Dem Senator Promises He and Colleagues Will Do Everything Possible to Block Trump EPA Nominee

Sen. Brian Schatz (D., Hawaii) said Tuesday that Senate Democrats will do everything in their power to block Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt from being confirmed to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. President-elect Donald Trump selected Pruitt as his choice to run the EPA on Wednesday. MSNBC host Craig Melvin asked Schatz whether he and other Democrats in the Senate had any intention to try and block Pruitt’s nomination. “We’re going to do everything we can to block this nomination. This is not with any historical precedent,” Schatz said. “Even under Republican administrations, George W. Bush, they didn’t appoint the head of the EPA to dismantle the EPA.” As the attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt was a thorn in the side of the Obama administration’s EPA, fighting the agency on issues relating to climate change and coal production. Trump suggested during the presidential campaign that he would be willing to significantly shrink or get rid of the EPA and the New York Times described Pruitt as being “the right man to do that.” Schatz vowed to try and hold up Pruitt’s nomination, citing his views on climate change and his hostility towards the regulations implemented by the Obama administration...more