Sessions: EPA nominee Gina McCarthy is ‘stonewalling’

Sessions serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where Republicans walked out of Gina McCarthy’s nomination hearing in order to delay her confirmation vote. Her nomination was advanced last Thursday on a 10-8 party-line vote.

{mosads}“I believe she is a good person and her assurance that EPA would become more responsive under her management has been encouraging,” Sessions said. “However, neither Ms. McCarthy nor the agency she would like to lead has been responsive to many of the reasonable requests of Senators tasked with advising and consenting to this nomination.”

Democrats accused Republicans of using another stall tactic to delay Obama’s nominee by submitting more than 1,000 questions for McCarthy to answer before the confirmation hearing. Sessions said he submitted questions on wasted funds and climate change assertions but McCarthy did not adequately answer them.

“She has persisted in EPA’s stonewalling of my request for information about taxpayer funds wasted on an unnecessary reconsideration of the ozone standard — a request I have waited almost two years to be answered,” Sessions said. “In addition, she did not answer my questions about EPA’s sue and settle tactics, and she has refused to provide EPA’s analysis concerning the president’s faulty assertion that global temperatures are increasing more than was predicted a decade ago.”

If Sessions or another GOP senator impose a filibuster on McCarthy’s nomination, Democrats would need to get 60 votes to break the gridlock.