Who Could Lead EPA Alongside Trump 2.0?

Former President Donald Trump may turn to one of his former appointees to take on a difficult task in his second term: running the Environmental Protection Agency.

If Trump wins the White House, he would want the EPA administrator to roll back a slew of Biden administration-era regulations and to rein in its recalcitrant career staff. That work would have to be done over the course of four years, all under intense media scrutiny and relentless congressional oversight.

Myron Ebell, who headed Trump’s last transition team at the Environmental Protection Agency, said the obstacles the former president would face if he returned to power would be far greater than those Trump faced in 2017.

“EPA is one of the key positions,” Ebell said. “I hope Trump picks someone who is highly competent and highly ambitious given the scale of the challenge.”

POLITICO E&E News spoke with 10 former Trump administration officials and conservative allies who work on energy and environmental policy, who requested anonymity, to discuss a sensitive personnel decision the former president will face in selecting the next EPA chief.

Several said Trump could turn to his last EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, to regain control of the agency.

Earlier this year, Wheeler told Politico that he was open to returning to the EPA if asked. Unlike some other former members of Trump’s Cabinet, Wheeler has endorsed the former president, and Trump has posted talking points on social media that Wheeler allegedly developed for a debate with President Joe Biden.

After leaving the EPA, Wheeler joined Virginia state government, where he created the first Office of Regulatory Management for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin after Democratic senators blocked his confirmation as secretary of natural and historical resources. He is currently a partner and head of federal affairs at the law firm Holland & Hart.

“I think Wheeler, if that’s what he wants. People like working with him,” said a former Trump administration official. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s not a wild card.”

Wheeler did not respond to questions for this article.

Additionally, many believed Mandy Gunasekara was a candidate to head the EPA under Trump.

She worked at the Trump EPA, including as chief of staff, and wrote a chapter of the EPA’s Project 2025 plan, which would radically overhaul the agency and was developed by conservative supporters. Trump has sought to distance himself from a proposal that Democrats denigrated during the campaign.

Gunasekara, however, said she is not interested in the EPA administrator position.

“I don’t want this role,” Gunasekara told E&E News, noting that she lives in Oxford, Mississippi, adding, “It’s heaven on earth, and I don’t plan on leaving.”

Others say Aurelia Skipwith Giacometto could be Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

Giacometto was Trump’s director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Like Wheeler, she came to state government after Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 campaign and was appointed by Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to head the state Department of Environmental Quality.

Louisiana DEQ officials did not respond to comments when contacted for this story.

Some believe Trump will pick North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s running mate earlier this year, for a high-profile energy or environmental job. It could be a senior White House position or a Cabinet position such as energy secretary, interior secretary or EPA administrator.

Michael Catanzaro, a former senior Trump White House adviser on energy and environmental policy, and Doug Benevento, who served as deputy EPA administrator in the Trump administration, also may be candidates for the agency’s top job.

Both Catanzaro and Benevento declined to comment when asked if they would be interested in becoming Trump’s next EPA administrator, as did a spokesman for Burgum when contacted for this article.

Travis Voyles, a former Trump official at the Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia’s secretary of natural and historical resources, is up for a senior position in a possible second Trump term, including deputy EPA administrator.

Voyles did not respond to an inquiry for this article.

Meanwhile, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said: “There have been no discussions about who will serve in a second Trump administration.”

Leavitt added: “At the right time, President Trump will select the best people to help him advance his America First agenda and solve the problems created by the failed policies of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.”

Staff and regulatory cuts in the program

Trump has promised to reinstate a previous executive order that would make it easier to fire federal government workers. He has indicated that environmental protection agencies could also be targeted.

The former president also criticized Biden’s energy regulations, such as the EPA’s latest emissions standards, which could lead to a surge in electric vehicle sales.

Ebell, now president of the American Lands Council, an organization that seeks to transfer federal lands to states, pointed to the deregulatory push that Trump’s next environmental agency will pursue, noting a wide range of regulations, including greenhouse gas emission standards for power plants and subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The entire energy sector is at risk of serious disruption due to foolish regulatory interventions,” Ebell said.

Several former Trump officials have said the nominee to lead the agency will need to know the EPA inside and out, and be familiar enough with Washington to be able to draw on past relationships on Capitol Hill to craft lasting policies that won’t be thrown out in court on administrative law issues.

Overall, time will be short — too short for a former elected official outside the nation’s capital to take on an administrative role that could require on-the-job training and a lengthy adjustment period.

“They need to be able to set a plan of action and act immediately,” said a former Trump EPA official.

But presidents can hand out Cabinet-level positions like EPA administrator as political favors. Trump supporters, especially red-state governors, attorneys general and members of Congress, could jump ahead of others if they wanted the job.

Scott Pruitt, then Oklahoma’s ambitious attorney general, raised his profile by repeatedly suing the agency. Pruitt won the EPA job after Trump interviewed him during his first shift. Pruitt later resigned amid a wave of ethical issues.

“The best candidate for EPA administrator will do well in an interview at Mar-a-Lago,” said Jahan Wilcox, a GOP political consultant and former Trump EPA senior communications adviser. “It will probably be an attorney general from the Midwest.”

Confirmation Battles

Trump must win the election, but he will also need Republicans to do well in the Senate race to boost his nominee’s chances for the EPA job.

If the GOP fails to win control of the chamber, more conservative picks may not be nominated. Democrats are expected to massively oppose Trump’s nominees, including his pick for the EPA.

Troy Lyons, who led the Trump EPA’s office of congressional and intergovernmental relations, said the president, regardless of party, traditionally approves most of his initial Cabinet nominees. Having the Senate in the hands of friends could make that process much easier.

“The nomination of the EPA administrator comes under a lot of scrutiny,” said Lyons, now a senior director of federal affairs at Holland & Hart. “When you look at the division of (the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee), you have to make sure the nominee is competent and can withstand a wide range of tough questions.”

During the previous Trump administration, the Senate confirmed Wheeler twice — first as deputy EPA administrator, then as EPA administrator — but both times on sharply partisan votes. The House also confirmed Giacometto to the FWS position.

There may be other names to run Trump’s EPA if he wins the race. Trump’s orbit is often unstable, with advisers sometimes being pushed out and then returned.

As a result, it is difficult to determine who might be selected for any position, not just EPA administrator.

“I think it’s unpredictable who will be considered and who will be on the final list,” said another former Trump administration official. “I don’t think anyone really knows the answers to that question today.”