Senate panel votes down Wheeler nomination; fight not over

By SARAH RANKIN
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Democrat-controlled Virginia Senate committee has voted against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s choice for secretary of natural and historic resources. The committee stripped the name of former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler from a resolution approving the governor’s other Cabinet appointments. But the move is likely not the final say on the matter. Wheeler’s appointment could ultimately prevail if any Democrat on the narrowly divided Senate floor joins with Republicans to add his name back to the resolution. Wheeler is a former coal lobbyist who led the EPA during the administration of former President Donald Trump and oversaw rollbacks of environmental protections implemented under former President Barack Obama.