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October 28—Governor Michael O. Leavitt of Utah was confirmed as the new Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by an 88-8 vote in the full Senate. With this, Leavitt's appointment surmounted the last of a series of challenges, the latest being holds placed by six Democratic Senators. All six Senators withdrew their holds on October 27, allowing the final confirmation vote to take place in the full Senate the next day.
Few questioned Leavitt's qualifications for the post of EPA Administrator, but Senators critical of President Bush's environmental policies took the confirmation process as an opportunity to voice their discontent with the Administration's record. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was particularly outspoken in the matter, demanding that the Administration address accusations that the White House improperly influenced EPA reports released after the September 11th attacks in New York City before she would support the EPA nominee. In response, the Administration agreed to a deal. Senator Clinton said, "We clearly did not get everything I would have wanted," but conceded, "We got a lot more than anyone expected," according to the New York Times. What she got was an agreement that promises more indoor air quality testing in Lower Manhattan and a review of the post-September 11th cleanup by government and non-government experts. The other holds on Leavitt's nomination were placed, and removed, by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ), Barbara Boxer (CA), John Kerry (MA), John Edwards (NC), and Joseph Lieberman (CT). The latter three are candidates in the Democratic presidential primary.
Before being stymied by holds in the full Senate, Leavitt's nomination was stalled by a boycott in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), which had to approve the nomination before the full Senate could consider it. On October 1, the eight Democratic EPW committee members and Independent Sen. James Jeffords (VT) refused to attend a vote on the Leavitt nomination, preventing the quorum necessary to decide whether the nomination should be forwarded to the full Senate. The absent Senators demanded that the Administration answer questions on a number of environmental issues before they would approve Bush's EPA nominee. "The Bush administration is weakening the Clean Air Act, it is weakening the Clean Water Act and it is not cleaning up Superfund sites. We have a right to know why. These are life-and-death issues," said Jeffords at the October 1 hearing. He continued, "This is the only time we have the leverage, when we have something like this, and we intend to use it." In a later meeting, held October 15, the EPW Committee voted 16-2 to advance Leavitt's nomination to the full Senate.
Leavitt will resign as Governor of Utah November 5, and be sworn in as EPA Administrator November 6. Marianne Horinko has been serving as Acting EPA Administrator since former Administrator Christine Todd Whitman left in June and Deputy Administrator Linda Fischer resigned several weeks into July.
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