President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to meet today with two possible contenders for U.S. EPA administrator who have called for rollbacks of some of the more contentious environmental rules.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt (R), who’s helping to lead the legal fight against the Obama administration’s climate rule, and former Texas environmental regulator Kathleen Hartnett White — who has called for restraining ” EPA” — are both scheduled to meet with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence in New York as they continue to announce picks for administration jobs.
Both Pruitt and Hartnett White have been rumored candidates for EPA leadership under Trump. He’s a lawyer who has climbed the political ranks in the Sooner State and recently said he’d consider running for governor in 2018. She’s a public policy expert who served as a Texas environmental regulator and as a special assistant in the White House for first lady Nancy Reagan.
They’d both be expected to reshape the agency by reducing or reshaping regulations.
Many other names have been floated for EPA administrator, including additional state officials and former George W. Bush administration EPA political appointees. Another state attorney general, Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, has been mentioned for the EPA job.
Trump’s other meetings scheduled for this week include sit-downs with rumored contenders for secretary of State retired Gen. David Petraeus, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). Trump will also meet tomorrow with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), according to the transition team.