Senate panel advances previously-deadlocked Biden air nominee

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday advanced the nomination of President Biden’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s air agency, months after deadlocking on the nomination.

The committee voted 10-9 along party lines to advance Joseph Goffman to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation.

“Throughout his career, Mr. Goffman has demonstrated a dedication to public service and a deep sense of integrity,” Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) said ahead of the vote. “He has implemented the law in a way that provides cleaner air and a safer climate for all, while also giving industry predictability and certainty.”

The panel previously deadlocked 10-10 on Goffman’s nomination in November 2022, when the Senate was still split 50-50. Under the tie vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would have been required to file a discharge petition for a full vote. As an unconfirmed nomination at the end of the previous Congress, Goffman was renominated for the position earlier in 2023.

Goffman, who has led the air office on an acting basis for over two years, is a frequent GOP target due to his role in developing the Obama EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which the Supreme Court threw out last year in its West Virginia v. EPA decision.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) has also blasted Goffman’s advocacy of the EPA’s proposed Good Neighbor rule, which regulates interstate air pollution affecting downwind states.

“Despite clear scientific evidence saying otherwise, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Air and Radiation Joe Goffman believes Wyoming is responsible for Denver’s polluted air,” Lummis tweeted following the vote. “We need basic competence in government and Joe Goffman comes up well short.”

Another member of the committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), voted to advance Goffman’s nomination both Wednesday and in November, but said last year that he would only vote to confirm Goffman in the full Senate if the EPA takes action on the IRA’s residential solar program.