The Trump administration's controversial nominee to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality has withdrawn her name from consideration.
Kathleen Hartnett White announced Feb. 4 in a statement that she no longer wants to chair the council, or CEQ, after more than a year of participating in the nomination process.
"I want to thank President Trump for his confidence in me and I will continue to champion his policies and leadership on environmental and energy issues of critical importance to making our nation great, prosperous and secure again," White said in a statement provided to the Washington Post. White said she was withdrawing her nomination "in the best interest of facilitating confirmation of the president's nominees throughout his administration."
Shortly after White's decision was made public, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee announced a Feb. 7 business meeting to consider Andrew Wheeler for deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Wheeler appeared before the committee in November
White was one of the most controversial nominees considered by the U.S. Senate in President Donald Trump's first year. Democrats, led by Senate Environment and Public Works committee ranking member Thomas Carper of Delaware, moved to block other nominees from proceeding so long as White was still being considered for the CEQ chair position.
The nominee drew fire during her nomination hearing for her previous comments on climate change, asserting that belief in global warming is a "kind of paganism" for "secular elites." She also stressed a need to streamline permitting processes for energy resources and offered support for Trump's plan to do so.
White was among the 200 or so presidential nominees sent back to the White House at the end of 2017 as the Senate adjourned for the year. The White House moved to renominate many of those, including White, but the slight delay gave Trump an opportunity to rethink some of his nominees.
In past presidencies, nominees sent back at the end of a session and later renominated had a slim chance of ever assuming the position. Of the nine candidates sent back at the December recess at the end of the first year for the Obama and Bush administrations, seven were renominated to the same position but only two were confirmed.
After hearing the news that White's nomination is being rescinded, Carper said the next nominee must have a deep respect for science, the nation's environmental laws and regulations, and for those holding differing views.
"My colleagues in Congress know well that I am one of the first to reach across the aisle to find reasonable, principled compromises, but in this case, it was abundantly clear very early on that heading up the Council on Environmental Quality wasn't the right job for Ms. White," Carper said in a statement. "I believe it is past time for this administration to nominate a thoughtful environmental and public health champion to lead this critical office in the federal government."
Had she assumed the chairmanship of the CEQ, White could have found herself at the center of Trump's as-yet unreleased infrastructure plan. The council oversees the nation's foremost environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, issuing guidance on its implementation and approving federal agency NEPA procedures. NEPA and the CEQ may come to the forefront once Congress turns to debate on a broad infrastructure bill, with members seeking changes to the approval processes for energy projects.
