[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 98 (Monday, June 9, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3281-S3282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of David Fotouhi

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I will say that I am here today 
because we are about to go to the motion to invoke cloture on the 
nomination of David Fotouhi to serve as the Deputy Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency, and I very much hope that colleagues 
will oppose his nomination because he is, essentially, 100 percent on 
the side of the polluters and not interested in protecting the public 
health or the public safety or the public's well-being.
  If you think about the EPA at its most basic, its mission is to 
protect clean air and clean water and a safe climate. But in this guy's 
two jobs since law school, as a corporate lawyer and as acting general 
counsel of the EPA during the first Trump administration, Mr. Fotouhi 
has served the interests of polluting industries that do everything in 
their power to avoid, weaken, or kill the rules that protect our clean 
air, our clean water, and our safe climate. He has consistently been on 
the wrong side.
  As a partner at a prominent law firm Mr. Fotouhi defended a raft of 
big polluting interests, including megapolluters Chevron and Sunoco. 
Now, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Other polluter clients 
included Aethon Energy, Cibolo Energy Partners, Energy Transfer 
Partners, Matador Resources Company, and ProFrac Holding.
  What did he help them do? Well, he defended one company for dumping 
tens of thousands of tons of PFAS into drinking water. He defended tire 
manufacturers for poisoning salmon with their rubber additives. He 
defended an automobile company against claims of greenwashing 
concerning their so-called clean diesel cars. He defended another for 
failing to obtain proper permits, resulting in illegal emissions of 
sulfur dioxide. And he represented a major defense contractor seeking 
to shift responsibility onto the United States for environmental 
remediation necessitated by the company's release of hazardous waste. 
The list goes on.
  As counsel and then acting general counsel at EPA during the first 
Trump administration, Mr. Fotouhi worked hard to repeal environmental 
regulations meant to protect human health and the environment by doing 
two primary things: First, he developed the legal justifications for 
these attacks; and, second, when they were challenged in court, he 
orchestrated the strategy to defend against those legal challenges.
  Well, which regulations were involved? Actually, a lot of them: rules 
covering CO2 emission standards for light-duty vehicles, 
greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft, methane emissions from the oil 
and gas industry, lead and copper in drinking water, State water 
quality certification processes, and the management of coal combustion 
residuals. In other words, lots and lots of rules meant to make our 
air, water, and climate cleaner and safer became the targets of this 
individual.
  Now, Mr. Fotouhi is nominated to be second in command as the Agency 
implements the poisonous agenda of President Trump's fossil fuel 
donors. Chief on those polluting donors wish list is the rescission of 
EPA's ``endangerment finding,'' a 2009 science-based determination that 
greenhouse gases are harmful to human health and the environment.
  Yes, that was 2009, and when that rule was adopted, it had been 
settled scientific fact for decades that greenhouse gases harm public 
health and the environment.
  Now, here we are, 16 years later, where the evidence has only gotten 
stronger, and the looming economic dangers have only gotten more 
evident, and, yet, he wants to undo that rule. The only people who 
benefit from repealing the endangerment finding--the only people--are 
the planet's biggest polluters, who just happen to be among Trump and 
the Republican Party's biggest donors.
  Mr. Fotouhi has served those polluters' interests for years. He is 
their boy.
  Clearly, like everyone, polluters have a right to counsel. But it 
remains difficult for me to understand how someone who has made a 
career representing the very industries that destroy our environment, 
defending their practices that did that damage, now has any business 
being entrusted to protect us. He will obviously serve their interests 
and not the public interests. Always has, always will. Even before Mr. 
Fotouhi's nomination, the corruption of EPA by Trump's polluting fossil 
fuel donors is already underway.
  Where even to begin?
  Administrator Zeldin continues his assault on clean air and clean 
water at what he now contemptuously calls the climate religion, 
contrary to his repeated and obviously false and empty promises when he 
came before us in committee.
  The list of congressionally authorized and appropriated funding that 
EPA continues illegally to hold hostage is too long to list here today. 
Obviously, the biggest target is the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, 
which drives Administrator Zeldin and his enablers at DOJ crazy, and it 
drives them to conduct that merits both legal and professional 
liability. I have talked about this frequently as it relates to the 
repeated misconduct of the unconfirmably corrupt Ed Martin over at DOJ, 
who is part of this scheme.
  Beyond illegally blocking grants, this EPA has put the Office of 
Research and Development--responsible for conducting EPA's scientific 
research--on the chopping block with RIFs, reductions in force, and 
reorganizations imminent because, after all, who wants science where 
big polluting donors' interests are involved?
  Then we have the coming onslaught of deregulatory actions, which will 
make cars dirtier and less fuel-efficient and more expensive for their 
owners to run so that Trump's big donors in the oil industry can sell 
more gasoline; deregulatory actions, which will let power plants and 
oil and gas facilities

[[Page S3282]]

spew more carbon dioxide and methane so Trump's fossil fuel political 
donors can sell more oil and gas.
  EPA is even attempting to shut down the program that keeps track of 
how much carbon pollution industrial facilities emit. They don't even 
want to keep score any longer.
  ``Hear no evil, see no evil'' is Administrator Zeldin's motto over at 
the EPA.
  The corruption in this administration is endless, and the corruption 
related to the fossil fuel industry is particularly evil and damaging. 
And the service of David Fotouhi in the cause of the polluters who fund 
Trump and the Republican Party is, in my view, completely 
disqualifying. On the other hand, for the polluters, it is the reason 
they like him.
  I will vote no on his nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the 
same.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I rise as chair of the Environment and 
Public Works Committee. I rise today in support of the nomination of 
David Fotouhi to be the Deputy Administrator of Environmental 
Protection Agency.
  Behind Administrator Lee Zeldin--who I believe is doing an excellent 
job--Mr. Fotouhi's position is of the utmost importance to the Agency, 
and his perspective is essential in returning the Agency to its core 
mission in support of President Trump's administration's agenda.
  Mr. Fotouhi has spent the previous years of his career representing 
clients on matters relating to all types of environmental law. And 
before that, he previously served as the acting general counsel and 
principal deputy general counsel at EPA, so he has tons of experience. 
Mr. Fotouhi has been recognized by multiple national law publications 
for his work in environmental and energy law and as a leader on those 
issues.
  Mr. Fotouhi's previous experience at the EPA provides him with a 
wealth of perspective on the Agency's critical role of protecting our 
environment, our land, and our water and our air. While doing so within 
the bounds of the legal authority that Congress has established, EPA 
Deputy Administrator is generally tasked with overseeing the day-to-day 
operations of the Agency.
  In this role, Mr. Fotouhi will coordinate the work of EPA's important 
air, water, and chemical offices, in addition to the EPA's regional 
offices--which touches all of us--the research enforcement and general 
counsel office teams. Effectively integrating the Agency's work will be 
at the top of Mr. Fotouhi's list of responsibility.
  Facilitating economic growth while protecting public health and the 
environment requires the Agency to establish consistent and legally 
defensible regulations, fairly and clearly enforces those rules, and 
communicate with the States, communities, and entities that are 
impacted by those regulations.
  Throughout the confirmation process, both in meetings with me and in 
front of our committee in his testimony before the EPW Committee, Mr. 
Fotouhi displayed incredible knowledge and understanding of the tasks 
before him and pledged to uphold the principles of cooperative 
federalism.
  His vast experience has positioned him well for service at the EPA, 
and his presence will move forward the initiatives that are important 
to the success of our country.
  The fact of the matter is that Mr. Fotouhi is well-qualified and 
equipped to fulfill this role. I have confidence he will refocus the 
Agency back to fulfilling its core mission and away from pushing 
extreme regulations that threaten the reliability of our electric grid 
and our American competitiveness. Too often, we have nominees that have 
a lot of experience regulating but no experience advising entities on 
complying with regulations. This is an important perspective for the 
Agency to have and one that Mr. Fotouhi brings to the table.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me and my fellow EPW Committee 
members in supporting this nomination so we can get to work together on 
efforts that improve the lives of Americans across the country and to 
protect--I will say that again--to protect our environment.
  I yield the floor.