Scott Pruitt's successor is reportedly the Mike Pence of the EPA

EPA headquarters.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Three months after President Trump told now-former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to "knock it off," he finally did, resigning on Thursday and leaving Andrew Wheeler to take his place.

Wheeler, the Environmental Protection Agency's deputy administrator, spent decades working in Washington as a coal lobbyist and EPA aide under former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, reports Politico.

After lobbying for various fossil fuel corporations, he eagerly stepped back into the swamp after a six-month-long confirmation process, as Pruitt's second-in-command. "He's like Mike Pence is to Trump," a former colleague of Wheeler's said. "He's behind the scenes. He'll get a lot done and doesn't need to be in the news."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Other Capitol Hill staffers have praised his diligent adherence to proper procedure and ability to work with Congress. His aggressive stance on environmental regulations will lead to "methodical" and "rule-driven" rollbacks of policies, aides predict. Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune told Politico that Wheeler will "fit in well" at the top of Trump's EPA because of his efforts to "flout the findings of the scientific community" and fight environmental protections.

Wheeler, who doubts that humans are the primary cause of climate change, is set to take over as acting administrator of the EPA on Monday. Read more at Politico.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Summer Meza, The Week US

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.