Trump EPA official William Wehrum announced his resignation as the EPA's top air policy official on 26 June 2019, after the Energy and Commerce Committee launched an ethics inquiry. Wehrum served as one of the chief architects of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the ambition and reach of the EPA, and to retreat from President Obama’s push to slash emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. He oversaw efforts to ease regulation of the coal industry, slow requirements that cars and trucks become more fuel efficient and overhaul how the agency calculates costs and benefits to favor industry. Photo: Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post
Trump EPA official William Wehrum announced his resignation as the EPA’s top air policy official on 26 June 2019, after the Energy and Commerce Committee launched an ethics inquiry. Photo: Bill O’Leary / The Washington Post

By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis
26 June 2019

(The Washington Post) – Bill Wehrum spent only a year and a half as the Environmental Protection Agency’s top air official before announcing plans to resign Wednesday amid scrutiny over possible violations of federal ethics rules.

But during that time, Wehrum served as one of the chief architects of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the ambition and reach of the EPA, and to retreat from President Obama’s push to slash emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. He oversaw efforts to ease regulation of the coal industry, slow requirements that cars and trucks become more fuel efficient and overhaul how the agency calculates costs and benefits to favor industry.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s announcement Wednesday did not cite a specific reason for the departure of Wehrum, who as an attorney represented power companies seeking to scale back air pollution rules. But Wehrum has privately expressed concern about how an ongoing House Energy and Commerce Committee probe was affecting his former law firm, Hunton Andrews Kurth, according to individuals familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. […]

Environmental groups, Democrats on Capitol Hill and other critics were quick to celebrate Wehrum’s departure, calling him an integral part of the “swamp” that President Trump had vowed to drain in Washington.

“William Wehrum was emblematic of the administration’s struggles to remain ethical,” Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said in a statement. “While it’s a good thing that Wehrum’s potential ethics problems will no longer affect the agency, the tone is set at the top, and if the EPA is to clean up the mess started by Scott Pruitt, the Trump administration needs to get serious about policing its ethical failures.” [more]

Top EPA official resigns amid scrutiny over possible ethics violations