Senate Committee Approves Trump Pick to Lead Environment Office

A Senate panel on Wednesday approved President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the White House’s environmental policy office.

The 12-7 vote by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee moves Katherine Scarlett’s nomination to the Senate floor.

If confirmed, Scarlett will take over the Council on Environmental Quality, a small office headquartered in a townhouse near the White House. CEQ has long been at the center of political squabbles over environmental permitting, many of which are still ongoing.

Notably, Trump’s CEQ scrubbed its longstanding regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act after a federal appeals court found in November that ...