RICHMOND – Today, the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections voted 9-6 to remove Andrew Wheeler from SJ 84, a resolution to confirm Governor Youngkin’s cabinet-level appointments.
Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump where he presided over an unprecedented reversal of environmental laws and regulations, drew immediate criticism when he was nominated to be Virginia’s next Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources.
In response to today’s action, Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, issued the following statement.
“Andrew Wheeler is unfit to lead Virginia’s environmental agencies. Today, Senators in the Privileges and Elections Committee made the right call by removing him from consideration. We hope the Youngkin Administration can find a replacement Secretary who actually has a demonstrable record of caring about environmental protection, not working to undermine safeguards that protect clean air, clean water, and our health.”