Trump Hints at Naming Wheeler Permanent EPA Administrator

President Donald Trump may be planning to permanently place Andrew Wheeler as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator.

Pro Farmer reports that Trump this week said of Wheeler: “He is acting, but he is doing well, right? So maybe he won’t be so acting for so long.” President Trump made the comments during the White House’s State Leadership Day Conference.

Acting roles are typically limited to 210 days in a post, with Wheeler having now a little more than 100 days under his belt as acting head of EPA. Wheeler, who has not been nominated for the post, took the acting role in July when then-administrator Scott Pruitt resigned.

Wheeler inherited an agency in the midst of a large deregulation effort and a controversial biofuels agenda. However, Wheeler just last week said his agency can expand E15 sales to year-round without Congressional approval, a move ordered by President Trump and applauded by many agriculture groups earlier this month.

Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.