Oppose Bad Nominees

Nominee to Oppose

Status of the Nomination

Barry Lee Myers, Pennsylvania

Head of NOAA

Barry Lee Myers’ Name Withdrawn as the next head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

PN68 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 12/02/2019 – Received message of withdrawal of nomination from the President.

About: Myers is CEO of Accuweather (which represents a conflict of interest) and has clashed with the National Weather Service in the past. More information at Conflict of Interest Ahead with the Weather

Status confirmed 4/9/20

Peter C. Wright

Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste at EPA

Well, we tried! Peter C. Wright approved as the next Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste at the Environmental Protection Agency

PN80 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 07/11/2019 -Confirmed by Senate Yea-Nay Vote

Count on the Trump Administration to nominate a Dow Chemical lawyer to oversee EPA’s Office of Solid Waste. Note that Dow was a significant contributor to Trump’s presidential campaign. More information at: Dow Chemical Lawyer for an EPA Assistant Administrator?

Status confirmed 9/15/19

Lane Genatowski

Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy at DOE

Well, we tried! Lane Genatowski approved as the next Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy at the Department of Energy

PN62 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 06/27/2019 – Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Whereas past directors of this agency have been Ph.D. scientists, Genatowski has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a law degree, and currently is a Texas-based investment adviser. More information at: So Much for Science at DOE Agency

Status confirmed 9/15/19

David Bernhardt

Secretary of the Interior

Well, we tried! David Bernhardt confirmed as the next Secretary of the Interior

PN503 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 04/11/2019 – Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 56 – 41. Record Vote Number: 77.

Again, Trump nominates a past lobbyist for oil and chemical companies to head the Department of the Interior, where he has been doing damage for years as the Deputy Secretary and now Acting Secretary. More information at: Former Oil and Chemical Lobbyist for Secretary of the Interior?

William Charles Macintosh

Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste at EPA

We totally missed this one! William Charles McIntosh approved to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

PN1766 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 01/03/2019 – Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

This former Ford Motor Company executive is accused of overseeing an industrial spill that contaminated the groundwater of a Michigan suburb with a cancer-causing chemical. More information at: Chad McIntosh the polluter.

Status confirmed 1/11/19

Daniel Simmons

Assistant Secretary for Energy, Efficiency, and Renewable Energy at the DOE

Well, we tried! Daniel Simmons approved as the Next Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy

PN2135 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 01/02/2019 – Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Count on the Trump Administration to nominate a skeptic of renewable energy to be the next Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy. More information at: Renewable Energy Policy Skeptic in the Chicken Coop

Status confirmed 1/11/19

Bernard McNamee

Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste at EPA

Well, we tried! Bernard McNamee approved to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

PN2556 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 12/06/2018 – Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 50 – 49. Record Vote Number: 254.

The Trump Administration nominated an unqualified, pro-coal, partisan player to serve on FERC. McNamee has conflicts of interest with the coal industry, has no experience with energy utilities, and will destroy FERC’s standing as an independent regulatory body. More information at: Observe McNamee’s Bias Against Renewable Energy

Status confirmed 1/11/19

Steven Gardner, Kentucky

Director of the Office of Surface Mining

THIS ONE’S OUT! Steven Gardner’s Nomination as the Next Director of the Office of Surface Mining is Withdrawn

PN1367 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 09/12/2018 – Received message of withdrawal of nomination from the President

Date Received from President: 10/30/2017

About: We’ll keep an eye on who the next unqualified nominee is for this position.

Status confirmed 9/16/18

Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Virginia

AG for Environment, DOJ

Well, we tried! Jeffrey Bossert Clark Approved as AG for the Environment

PN1407 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 10/11/2018 – Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 – 45. Record Vote Number: 228.

About: Clark is a lawyer who has repeatedly challenged the scientific foundations of U.S. climate policy and was part of a legal team that represented BP in lawsuits stemming from the nation’s worst oil spill, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. More information at BP Oil Spill Lawyer for Environment AG? 

Status confirmed 10/14/18

James Morhard

Deputy Administrator at NASA

Well, we tried! James Morhard Approved as Deputy Administrator at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

PN2264 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 10/11/2018 – Confirmed by the Senate by Voice Vote.

Trump overrode Jim Bridenstines’s preference for this position and nominated a space non-professional. More information at: Bridenstine’s Pick for Deputy Administrator Rejected by Trump

Status confirmed 10/14/18

James Bridenstine, Oklahoma

NASA Administrator

Well, we tried! James Bridenstine Approved as NASA Administrator

PN1359 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 04/19/2018 – Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 50 – 49. .

About: Bridenstine has been known as a climate-change denier, has backed legislation that discriminated against the LGBT community, has opposed same-sex marriage and the Violence Against Women Act, and has criticized Democrats and Republicans for working across the aisle to pass legislation. However, in recent testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommitee, Bridenstine confirmed that he believes humans are the leading cause of climate change. More information at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/05/23/nasa-head-jim-bridenstine-once-doubtful-confirms-he-believes-humans-are-the-leading-cause-of-climate-change

Looks like we’ll need to keep an open mind but vigilant eye about Bridenstine’s future actions at NASA.

Status confirm ed 10/14/18

Andrew Wheeler, Virginia

Deputy Administrator of the EPA

Well, we tried!Andrew Wheeler has been approved by the Senate as the next Administrator of the EPA

PN1426 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 02/28/2019 – Confirmed by the Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 – 47.

Thanks to all who wrote, called, and agitated to stop the approval of this disaster to this important position.

About: Wheeler is a climate denier and coal lobbyist. This atrocious blob of coal has been nominated into a critical and sensitive position at the EPA. Andrew Wheeler was just voted “out’ of the Senate Committee on Party Lines. If he gets majority votes on the Senate floor he will become the EPA Deputy Administrator. Not only would he be #2 at EPA, there is lots of speculation that he will actually be the next head of EPA (Pruitt leaving.)

Read more about Wheeler here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/climate/trump-epa-andrew-wheeler.html

https://newrepublic.com/article/146971/next-head-trumps-epa-andrew-wheeler

https://theintercept.com/2018/02/07/coal-lobbyist-andrew-wheeler-epa-deputy-confirmation/

Status confirmed 10/14/18

Kathleen Hartnett-White, Texas

Head of the Council on Environmental Quality

THIS ONE’S OUT! Kathleen Hartnett-White Withdraws her Name from Consideration to be Head of the Council on Environmental Quality

PN1370 for the nomination website.

Latest Action: 02/05/2018 – Received message of withdrawal of nomination from the President.

Date Received from President: 10/16/2017

About: White works at the Koch Brothers-funded policy center. More information at http://www.energyandpolicy.org/kathleen-hartnett-white/

Status confirmed 2/7/18