Nominations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, on May 19, 2025, I provided a statement for the Record of my intent to object to the Senate proceeding to any of the four nominations currently pending on the Senate's Executive Calendar for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA.

Today, I am reaffirming those four objections and stating my intent to object to the Senate proceeding to three additional EPA nominations, if and when they are added to the Senate's Executive Calendar.

I do not raise these objections lightly. I recognize the importance of Federal Agencies having qualified leadership, regardless of which party is in charge. In several cases, I have voted in favor of reporting the current administration's nominees out of committee and to confirm them on the Senate floor, notwithstanding the political and policy differences that we may have. But the Senate's constitutional role to advise and consent regarding executive branch nominations is an important check on Agency leadership's abuse and overreach and raising these objections regarding EPA nominations is my duty on behalf of people of the State of California.

I am objecting to expedited consideration of EPA nominees in response to the Trump Administration EPA's abuse of the Congressional Review Act--CRA--by submitting three waivers issued to the State of California to Congress and claiming they are ``rules'' under the CRA despite the Government Accountability Office's clear determination they are not.

In May, I stated that I would continue these objections unless the Trump administration's EPA withdrew the waivers it knowingly and falsely submitted as rules or the majority leader committed to not overturning the Senate Parliamentarian's determination that these waivers are not rules entitled to expedited consideration in the Senate under the CRA.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration and the Republican majority plowed ahead with an unprecedented power grab at the expense of the health of millions of children and families in California and many other States. They took advantage of EPA's abuse of the CRA to throw out the rulebook, first overriding the procedural limits in the text of the CRA itself and then by overturning the Parliamentarian's decision, all in their quest to take away California's authority under the Clean Air Act.

This is unacceptable. California has done nearly all it can do to reduce emissions from stationary sources of air pollution within its jurisdiction. Given our unique air quality challenges and the worsening impacts of climate change, it is essential for our State to reduce pollution from mobile sources such as cars and trucks if the Federal Government will not do so itself. That is why Congress has provided this waiver authority to our State for decades, and it has been used over 100 times. But now, as a result of the Trump EPA and Senate Republicans' abuse of the CRA, the people of California will be forced to breathe more toxic air pollution and suffer increasingly devastating impacts of climate change.

To hold the Agency's leadership accountable for their actions, I am reaffirming my objection to proceeding to the four nominations pending on the Senate's Executive Calendar and expanding it to include additional nominations.

As of June 2, there are three additional Trump administration EPA nominations in the committee process, four Senate-confirmed positions for which the President has not yet made a nomination, and the inspector general position, for which the President has yet to make a nomination.

I want to make clear to my colleagues that I intend to object to the Senate proceeding to all nominations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, except for the vacancy for the EPA Inspector General, unless acceptable accommodations are reached for the State of California's to protect the health of its people.

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