[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 3, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3200-S3201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NOMINATIONS FOR THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, on May 19, 2025, I provided a statement 
for the Record of my intent to object to the Senate proceeding to any 
of the four nominations currently pending on the Senate's Executive 
Calendar for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA.
  Today, I am reaffirming those four objections and stating my intent 
to object to the Senate proceeding to three additional EPA nominations, 
if and when they are added to the Senate's Executive Calendar.
  I do not raise these objections lightly. I recognize the importance 
of Federal Agencies having qualified leadership, regardless of which 
party is in charge. In several cases, I have voted in favor of 
reporting the current administration's nominees out of committee and to 
confirm them on the Senate floor, notwithstanding the political and 
policy differences that we may have. But the Senate's constitutional 
role to advise and consent regarding executive branch nominations is an 
important check on Agency leadership's abuse and overreach and raising 
these objections regarding EPA nominations is my duty on behalf of 
people of the State of California.
  I am objecting to expedited consideration of EPA nominees in response 
to the Trump Administration EPA's abuse of the Congressional Review 
Act--CRA--by submitting three waivers issued to the State of California 
to Congress and claiming they are ``rules'' under the CRA despite the 
Government Accountability Office's clear determination they are not.
  In May, I stated that I would continue these objections unless the 
Trump administration's EPA withdrew the waivers it knowingly and 
falsely submitted as rules or the majority leader committed to not 
overturning the Senate Parliamentarian's determination that these 
waivers are not rules entitled to expedited consideration in the Senate 
under the CRA.
  Unfortunately, the Trump administration and the Republican majority 
plowed ahead with an unprecedented power grab at the expense of the 
health of millions of children and families in California and many 
other States. They took advantage of EPA's abuse of the CRA to throw 
out the rulebook, first overriding the procedural limits in the text of 
the CRA itself and then by overturning the Parliamentarian's decision, 
all in their quest to take away California's authority under the Clean 
Air Act.
  This is unacceptable. California has done nearly all it can do to 
reduce emissions from stationary sources of air pollution within its 
jurisdiction. Given our unique air quality challenges and the worsening 
impacts of climate change, it is essential for our State to reduce 
pollution from mobile sources such as cars and trucks if the Federal 
Government will not do so itself. That is why Congress has provided 
this waiver authority to our State for decades, and it has been used 
over 100 times. But now, as a result of the Trump EPA and Senate 
Republicans' abuse of the CRA, the people of California will be forced 
to breathe more toxic air pollution and suffer increasingly devastating 
impacts of climate change.
  To hold the Agency's leadership accountable for their actions, I am 
reaffirming my objection to proceeding to the four nominations pending 
on the Senate's Executive Calendar and expanding it to include 
additional nominations.
  As of June 2, there are three additional Trump administration EPA 
nominations in the committee process, four Senate-confirmed positions 
for which the President has not yet made a nomination, and the 
inspector general position, for which the President has yet to make a 
nomination.
  I want to make clear to my colleagues that I intend to object to the 
Senate proceeding to all nominations for the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, EPA, except for the vacancy for the EPA Inspector 
General, unless acceptable accommodations are reached for the State of 
California's to protect the health of its people.

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