Youngkin appoints Trump EPA chief to new post after failed Cabinet bid

By Laura Vozzella
Updated July 1, 2022 at 3:15 p.m. EDT | Published July 1, 2022 at 1:15 p.m. EDT

RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week created a new office designed to slash state regulations and put it under the direction of Andrew Wheeler, the former Trump administration official rejected earlier this year for the Virginia governor’s Cabinet. ... Youngkin (R) used an executive order to create the Office of Regulatory Management and chose Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who led a rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations as former president Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency chief, to lead it, the governor’s office announced Thursday night.

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The announcement drew sharp criticism from General Assembly Democrats, who blocked Youngkin’s efforts to install Wheeler as his secretary of natural and historic resources. Wheeler will not need the legislature’s approval for this post.

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Adding to the uproar was an error in Youngkin’s executive order, his 19th since taking office in January. The order initially said changes to Virginia regulations would be posted at townhall.org — a Trump website. It was later corrected to townhall.virginia.gov.

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The General Assembly seldom rejects a governor’s Cabinet pick, and the rest of Youngkin’s choices sailed through a divided Capitol. But Wheeler drew fierce pushback from environmentalists and the state’s elected Democrats, including members of Congress. The pick prompted 150 former EPA employees to write a letter of protest, contending that he had undermined the agency’s mission.

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By Laura Vozzella
Laura Vozzella covers Virginia politics for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was a political columnist and food writer at the Baltimore Sun, and she has also worked for the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Hartford Courant. Twitter https://twitter.com/LVozzella