One year after President Bush's election, his administration is still slowly starting to take shape. Many vacancies remain, as pointed out by this Brookings Institution project; there are still 159 confirmations left to go out of a total of 508 positions. Yet from the president's nominees so far, the direction he is taking is clear. As described below, federal agencies are becoming littered with former industry lobbyists -- who must now be counted on to regulate their former employers -- and others who have spent their lives questioning the very existence of the agencies they now represent. Needless to say, this does not bode well for health, safety, and environmental protections, as well as civil rights. The following provides the often-disturbing backgrounds of those who now call the shots over these issues. -Updated on October 30, 2002- VIEW PROFILES BY DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs | Department of the Interior | Environmental Protection Agency | U.S. Department of Agriculture | U.S. Food and Drug Administration | Council on Environmental Quality | Department of Energy | Department of Justice | Department of the Navy | Department of Defense | Department of Labor | Occupational Safety and Health Administration | National Labor Relations Board | Consumer Product Safety Commission | Department of Education | U.S. Commission on Civil Rights | VIEW PROFILES BY NAME: John Graham | Gale Norton | Steven J. Griles | Jim Cason | William Gerry Myers III | Patricia "Lynn" Scarlett | Bennett Raley | Rebecca Watson | H. Craig Manson | Jeffrey Jarrett | Cameron Toohey | Drue Pearce | Allan Fitzsimmons |Christie Todd Whitman | Linda Fisher | Jeffrey Holmstead | Donald Schregardus - EPA | Marianne Lamont Horinko | John Suarez | Jean-Marie Peltier | Mark Rey | Thomas Dorr | Mark McClellan | James Connaughton | Francis Blake | Robert Card | Thomas Sansonetti | Donald Schregardus - Navy | Mike Parker | Eugene Scalia | Cameron Findlay | Chris Spear | David D. Lauriski | Gary Visscher | J. Robert Brame | Michael J. Bartlett | William B. Cowen | Mary Sheila Gall | Harold "Hal" Stratton | Gerald Reynolds | Brian Jones | Peter Kirsanow ENTIRE LIST: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) John Graham was approved by the Senate on July 19, 2001, to head The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which acts as gatekeeper for regulations, including health, safety, and environmental protections. Graham's nomination received heavy opposition, both from the public interest community and from within the Senate. During the Senate debate, Sen. Durbin (D-IL) focused on Graham's consistent hostility to protections for public health, safety, and the environment, which has frequently put him at odds with the vast consensus of the scientific community. In particular, he pointed out that Graham has argued that dioxin at certain levels may be good for you; that pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables isn't a serious health threat; and that banning DDT might have been a mistake. Sen. Lieberman (D-CT) pointed out that Graham's academic work at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis posits a false tradeoff between addressing one type of risk and another, which he typically uses as an excuse to advise inaction. For example, Graham has frequently attacked various environmental protections, arguing that we should instead devote resources to more "cost-effective" programs, such as violence prevention or promoting the use of bike helmets. "I am generally inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to the President's nominees," Lieberman explained in his statement opposing the nomination. "But in this case, my doubts are so persistent, and the nominee's inclinations are so tilted, that I am not convinced he would be able to appropriately fulfill his responsibilities. In fact, I'm afraid he would contribute to the weakening of government's protective role in matters of environment, health, and safety." As director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, which is heavily funded by corporate money, Graham was a consistent and reliable ally of almost any industry seeking to hold off new regulation. For instance, after receiving funding from AT&T Wireless Communications, Graham produced a study in July 2000, that argued strongly against a ban on the use of cell phones while driving -- which was being considered by many cities and states at the time. He's also downplayed the health risks of diesel engines, as well as second-hand smoke, and argued against a ban on highly toxic pesticides (all after receiving funds from affected industries). In a talk at the Heritage Foundation, Graham said that "[e]nvironmental regulation should be depicted as an incredible intervention in the operation of society." This fierce, ideological opposition to new regulation causes great concern that OIRA will take a much more activist role in the rulemaking process, reminiscent of the 1980s when the office came under heavy criticism for continually thwarting crucial public protections. For more information, see this Public Citizen report. Lisa Heinzerling, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, submitted testimony to the Committee critiquing Graham's highly suspect analytical methods, which he will be in position to implement as OIRA administrator. In particular, Heinzerling called attention to a widely cited study conducted by Graham and one of his graduate students that claims we could save 60,000 more lives per year by shifting life-saving resources from wasteful programs to cost-effective programs. As Heinzerling points out, however, this study is highly misleading. Most striking, 79 of the 90 environmental "regulations" considered by Graham were never actually implemented; most of these, not surprisingly, were scored as outrageously expensive. Thus, Graham's study tells us virtually nothing about the regulatory system as it actually exists. The study does make mention of this, but in his many public presentations, Graham has never made this clear. And despite repeated misrepresentations by the press and members of Congress, Graham has never bothered to correct the record. In fact, he has perpetuated the myth by continually using the study to criticize our real-world regulatory system. During his first six months in office, Graham has asserted a great deal of power in his new position as OIRA Administrator. In a September memo to agencies, Graham outlined his regulatory review priorities and signaled that he will exercise increased oversight over agency cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment. As also indicated in the memo, Graham began exerting his power by issuing "prompt letters" advising agencies to take certain action on regulation. Graham brought back the "return letter," and the "post-review letter," which OIRA sends to agencies when it does not approve an agency's regulation. In OIRA's December 2001 Report to Congress on the Cost Benefit Analysis of Regulations, Graham's OIRA prioritized a list of 23 rules that could be rescinded or changed in order to increase net benefits to society by either reducing costs or increasing benefits. The list was based on public comments, the majority of which came from the conservative Mercatus Center. Department of the Interior (DOI) The Department of the Interior is our nation's principal conservation agency with jurisdiction over roughly 450 million acres of federal lands and about 3 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf. Its responsibilities include stewardship of 80 million acres of national parks, monuments and historical sites, over 264 million acres of public lands that are home to over 3,000 species of wildlife, and the 92 million acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which includes 509 national wildlife refuges and 37 wetland management districts. Gale Norton's early 2001 confirmation as Secretary of the Interior Department received fierce opposition and criticism. Norton is a zealous "states rights" and "devolution" advocate, and has lobbied, litigated, preached, and tried to manage federal environmental laws and lands out of existence. Norton previously served at Interior under her mentor, James Watt. She and her protégés at the Political Economy Research Center -- funded by Amoco, ARCO, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, Conoco, Eli Lilly and Co., Pfizer, and Coors -- have argued in court that the Endangered Species Act and the Surface Mining Act are unconstitutional, even though as Secretary of Interior, it will be her job to enforce them. Norton opposes federal laws requiring the removal of asbestos from schools and served as a lobbyist for a chemical company, NL Industries (formerly National Lead Company), charged with poisoning children with lead paint. She has argued that pollution is a right, not a crime. She submitted legal briefs supporting a lawsuit by the oil industry to strike down a federal oil tax and within minutes of being nominated for Secretary of Interior she endorsed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. As Attorney General of Colorado Norton refused to defend a state law guaranteeing minorities access to highway construction jobs. She opposed implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act, federal civil rights statutes, the Violence Against Women Act, and asserted that southern state's rights were trampled upon by the civil war. Already in her first year as head of Interior, Norton has been accused of altering Fish and Wildlife Service data regarding the effects of drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, and most recently, as reported in the Washington Post, Norton has been involved in a controversy over "missing comments" from the Fish and Wildlife Service that criticized the Army Corps of Engineers' (successful) attempt to weaken wetlands protections. Norton's office is slowly filling up. Many of her industry friends and former co-workers will be serving with her. As the Washington Post reported on Aug. 9, 2001, the Interior's new lineup is stacked with former industry lobbyist and lawyers, libertarian and western property rights advocates, and former Reagan-era government officials, reflecting the Bush administration's business-friendly approach to government regulation and environmental enforcement. Now confirmed as Deputy Secretary, J. Steven Griles will have broad day-to-day responsibilities for everything from national parks and Indian affairs to mining, logging and mineral exploration on public lands. Griles, a former Reagan Interior official under James G. Watt, is a coal-industry executive and lobbyist who has argued for oil drilling off the California coast, pressed to open the Artic National Wildlife Refugee for oil exploration, and urged cutting the fees paid by coal companies for operating on federal land. Steven Griles is known for arguing that environmental regulations should be loosened and the federal government's involvement reduced. Griles has denied charges that while at Interior he suppressed department studies on offshore drilling and federal coal royalties that conflicted with his views. The Washington Post reported that in his years at the Office of Surface Mining at Interior (OSM), Griles worked to make it harder for federal mine inspectors to cite violations and pushed enforcement responsibility to the states, which were often sympathetic to local companies. A former co-worker said he helped "cause devastation in the coalfields," and another said "he came with a vow to dismantle, eliminate OSM." After his first stint at Interior, Griles worked as a coal company executive, and later came back to Washington to lobby on behalf of firms such as Occidental Petroleum Corp., Pennsylvania Power and Light, the National Mining Association, and other large utilities. Through his own firm, J. Steven Griles and Associates, Griles has represented firms such as the Coal Bed Methane Ad Hoc committee and Dominion Resources. His confirmation as Deputy Secretary sends a clear message from the administration that it will side with industry in conservation disputes. Griles, for his part will likely conserve little more than his own industry ties and business interests. Griles has already been involved in a controversy over "missing comments" written by the Fish and Wildlife Service that criticized the Army Corps of Engineers' plan to weaken wetlands protections. As the Washington Post reports, Griles and Gale Norton were both involved in the missing comments, and their colleague at the Corps who previously lobbied for mining company interests -- Mike Parker -- approved the new rules that will weaken wetlands protections. Jim Cason has been chosen to be Associate Deputy Secretary, a newly created post at Interior that doesn't require Senate confirmation. Cason was nominated for Assistant Secretary of Agriculture in 1989 and was forced to withdraw after encountering strong resistance from Senate Democrats. It appears the Bush Administration has created the new position to avoid another controversial nomination fight. Cason previously served at Interior in the Bureau of Land Management and later held administrative posts at Interior and the Agriculture Department's Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. Cason also served as top deputy to Steven Griles, who was then assistant interior secretary for land and minerals management. The Washington Post reported on August 24, 2001, that Cason was instrumental in the sale of thousands of acres of oil shale lands in Colorado for $2.50 an acre under an 1872 mining law. He was also reportedly charged with suppressing a report that the spotted owl was likely to become an endangered species if logging continued in the Northwest. William Gerry Myers III was confirmed as Solicitor, or General Counsel for the Department of the Interior. Myers has represented grazers, timber companies, and others who make their living off of the land since 1997 at the Boise law firm of Holland and Hart. Previous to that Myers was a lawyer and lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and executive director of the Public Lands Council, a nonprofit representing various groups such as NCBA, American Sheep Industry Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Association of National Grasslands. During his tenure, these groups unsuccessfully sued to overturn grazing regulations adopted by the Clinton administration. Myers served the previous Bush administration as Deputy General Counsel for Programs at the Department of Energy and as Assistant to the Attorney General at the Department of Justice. Myers' most recent employer, Holland and Hart, represents industry clients on issues such as use of public land and fish and wildlife protections that interfere with business. More specifically, the firm represents companies in the oil and gas industry on a number of issues, including acquisition of properties and legal, transactional, and tax aspects of oil and gas exploration on public and Indian land. As Earthjustice points out in its profile on Myers (research was provided by the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy Research and White House Watch), he also served as corporate counsel to the Cattlemen Advocating Through Litigation Fund, which is a "nonprofit organization that seeks to protect property rights, promote free enterprise, and prevent regulatory abuse." Myers has publicly opposed important environmental policies such as the National Forest Roadless Conservation Policy, wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, and grazing fee reforms. He also supported and vigorously defended the state of Montana in the slaughter of bison that wandered out of Yellowstone National Park. Patricia "Lynn" Scarlett will serve as Assistant Secretary of Interior. As Earthjustice notes in its profile of Scarlett (research was provided by the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy Research and White House Watch), she is currently the president of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian pro-business organization that receives its money from well-known corporate funded foundations, such as Olin, Koch, Castle Rock, and Sara Scaife Foundations. She was a senior fellow at the anti-public interest, pro-business Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE). According to Earthjustice, Scarlett has gone on record opposing mandatory curbside recycling, a national bottle bill, campaign finance limits, consumer "right to know" laws, mandatory nutritional labeling, and pesticide use restrictions. She also co-authored a paper, "Environmental Progress: What Every Executive Should Know," in which she and other authors discard the "precautionary principle," which addresses preventative regulations, and recommend waiting until harm has already been done before taking action. The paper opposes the "polluter pays principle," which is the notion that the polluting industry - and not the public - should accept the responsibility and cost for cleaning up the messes they create. Bennet William Raley will be the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of Interior. His duties will include development, management, and conservation of the nation's water supply. According to Earthjustice's research (provided by the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy Research and White House Watch) done on Raley, he has been a member of the Defenders of Property Rights Attorney Network, a Washington-based legal foundation dedicated entirely to property rights matters. DPR's primary goal has been to promote "takings" laws, which threaten to make environmental laws and regulations prohibitively expensive by requiring payments to private landowners and others who might be affected by regulations. According to Earthjustice, Raley lobbied against a 1994 Clean Water Act Reauthorization bill introduced by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and the late John Chafee (R-RI). The bill would have set new guidelines for states on controlling polluted runoff, and Raley contended that the new pollution rules violated states' rights. Raley also testified on behalf of the National Water Resources Association in support of Rep. Don Young's (R-AL) Endangered Species Act reform bill (H.R. 3160 - 106th). The proposed legislation would have limited citizen suits against ESA violators, generally weakened ESA enforcement provisions, required economic analyses before listing species, and allowed damaging activities to proceed under certain circumstances. NWRA is a member of the National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition, an association formed by utility, logging, development, and mining corporations with financial interests in weakening the ESA. Rebecca Watson was confirmed to be Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. In this position she will work on public land's management, including land use planning, onshore and offshore minerals management, and surface mining reclamation and enforcement. As Earthjustice's research (provided by the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy Research and White House Watch) points out, Watson has spent almost her entire legal career defending industries such as the mining and timber industries, strongly advocating on their behalf. She has defended clients such as Plum Creek Timber (the second largest private timberland owner in the U.S.), Redstone Gas Partners (coal bed methane), Seven-Up Pete Joint Ventures (open pit gold mining), and the Western Environmental Trade Association, an industry trade group. Watson served and serves on the Board of Litigation for the Mountain States Legal Fund, an anti-environmental nonprofit law firm that has been described as the "litigating arm of the Wise Use Movement." Watson served in the first Bush administration as Assistant General Counsel for the Department of Energy, and is listed on the Defenders of Property Rights Attorney Network. H. Craig Manson was confirmed to be the Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Manson will be a key decision-maker on an array of natural resource decisions in this position that oversees more than 30,000 employees. Yet he has not spent very much of his career dealing with natural resource or land management issues. He did, however, serve for six years as Chief Counsel to the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG). According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Manson was accused of aiding politically-connected developers and other permitees, and frustrating strict enforcement of resource protection laws, while working - usually behind the scenes - to weaken interpretations of key statutes and policies. At the California DFG, Manson was involved in a case in which a whistleblower brought complaints against the DFG, including Manson, and eventually won. Jeffrey D. Jarrett was confirmed to be Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement. Jarrett most recently served as deputy secretary for mineral resources management with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. From 1988 to 1994, Jarrett served as deputy assistant director for OSM. Before holding these posts, Jarrett worked for several companies, including Cravat Coal Co., which has mines in Ohio and Kentucky, and Drummond Coal. The Citizen's Coal Council (CCC) has fought the nomination because Jarrett and Stephen Griles (his former boss at Interior and now Deputy Secretary to Norton) have both worked for coal companies and have used their government positions to help the coal industry. The CCC reports that Jarrett and Griles weakened environmental standards and citizens rights, harassed OSM staff who were good law enforcers, and forced some out through early retirement or reassignment. The Appalachian Focus Mining News reported that a past OSM memo explained that Jarrett is against enforcement or any state action that will increase requirements on operators. Cameron Toohey was named by Gale Norton to be her Special Assistant for Alaska. Toohey is a top lobbyist for drilling in ANWR and will be based in Anchorage, overseeing the Department of the Interior's operations in Alaska. Toohey has been the executive director of Artic Power, an Anchorage based lobbying group with the campaign for ANWR drilling as its sole purpose, since 1996. Norton claimed that rather than being an industry lobbyist, Toohey is a "representative of the public, a voice of Alaska citizens," though his background and employment seem to point very clearly to his position as an industry lobbyist. Gale Norton also named former Alaska Senator Drue Pearce to a new position as her Senior Advisor on Alaska issues. Pearce will be based in D.C. She has been a supporter of drilling in the past. Allan Fitzsimmons was appointed by Gale Norton as Fuels Coordinator at Department of the Interior. In this new position, which does not require Senate confirmation, Fitzsimmons will coordinate and implement fuels treatment on lands managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service, according to an Interior press release. Even though he has no background in forest ecology or fire management, Fitzsimmons will implement President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative, which aims to accelerate logging in national forests, purportedly as a way to reduce forest fires. Fitzsimmons has worked as a free market policy analyst and has written for libertarian and conservative think tanks. In past articles, Fitzsimmons questioned the existence of ecosystems, calling them a “mental construct,” the protection of which should not shape federal policy. He believes that it will be no real crisis if species become endangered or extinct because non-indigenous species will simply come in and create a balance, though as the Natural Resources Defense Council points out, many non-indigenous species are taking over native landscapes with devastating results. Fitzsimmons even criticized religious leaders who encourage the public to protect the environment and questioned whether doing so inadvertently makes an idol out of the environment. Fitzsimmons runs a consulting firm called Balanced Resource Solutions, and has taught in various positions at The George Washington University and George Mason University. Fitzsimmons also served in various positions at Interior from 1983 to 1989, and at the Department of Energy from 1989 to 1992. While at Interior, Fitzsimmons reportedly prepared a memo that recommended federal policies be based on the premise that "public recreational benefit is the principal reason for conserving natural features," according to Friends of the Earth. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Christie Todd Whitman was confirmed as EPA Administrator early on in the Bush Administration. Serving as the governor of New Jersey since 1993, Whitman had a mixed record on environmental protections. Heading up EPA, the nation's most powerful regulatory agency, will put her under much public scrutiny. The test will be to watch how she responds to her pro-industry, anti-regulatory colleagues in the administration, and whether she's willing to stand up to them to protect the environment. Linda Fisher has been confirmed as Deputy Administrator, the number two position at EPA. Fisher served the EPA for 10 years, most recently under former President Bush as Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances. From 1995 to 2000 she was one of Monsanto's top lobbyists and also served as their Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, working on agriculture, biotech, pharmaceutical, environment, finance and trade issues. She also managed Monsanto's PAC and political contribution funds. Monsanto is a leading developer of genetically modified crops. One of the major issues currently before the EPA is a request from Aventis SA to approve a genetically-modified corn known as StarLink for human consumption. StarLink, a variety altered to repel pests, was barred from human food in 1998 due to concerns that it might trigger allergic reactions in some people. There is obviously a conflict of interest in areas of EPA's regulating genetically modified crops, though Fisher states that she plans to recuse herself from any decisions that would involve Monsanto's interests. Jeffrey Holmstead will serve as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. Holmstead has a long history of working to weaken clean air safeguards. He served the previous Bush administration as Associate Counsel to the President from 1989-1993. Holmstead was also a member of the Quayle Council on Competitiveness, headed by then Vice-President Dan Quayle, which was charged with weakening environmental, health, and safety protections. Holmstead was involved in crafting new clean air regulations in the first Bush administration, and he testified before Congress in favor of legislation that would require EPA to elevate cost considerations in developing air quality standards - a direct attack on the Clean Air Act, which directs that public health considerations are preeminent. Since then, as an attorney, has represented the interests of pesticide producers in implementation of food quality legislation and trade associations in negotiations with EPA on various regulations. Since leaving the federal government, Holmstead has represented the chemical industry before EPA. He also has been an "adjunct scholar" for an anti-environmental industry front group that published a book that claimed acid rain was a "myth." In his new capacity, Holmstead will oversee the nation's air pollution control program - including some of the very rules he has opposed in the past. The policies he has advocated in the past, especially as a government employee, raise serious doubts about the suitability of his appointment to a job that entails carrying out the Clean Air Act's goal to protect the health of all Americans. Perhaps the most controversial nominee to the EPA, Donald Schregardus was nominated to serve as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Though not confirmed, Schregardus has still found a place in the administration. As Director of Ohio EPA from 1991 to 1998, Schregardus worked under former Ohio governor and current Sen. George Voinovich (R). Under Schregardus, the state of Ohio had one of the country's worst environmental records. For instance, from 1996 to 1997, 72 percent of Ohio plants and refineries surveyed had violations of the Clean Water Act, and 33 percent were in violation of the Clean Air Act, according to EPA's inspector general. Yet during this time, Ohio reported only four serious violations of environmental laws from over 1,700 major industrial plants. Accordingly, a number of environmental groups have asked EPA to revoke Ohio's authority to enforce federal environmental laws, and to bring in federal enforcers instead. In a Federal Court Decision, an administrative law judge found that Schregardus had suppressed information about school children exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in Marion, Ohio, and that he had fabricated charges against the government environmental specialist in charge of the investigation. Several senators, including Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), blocked Schregardus' nomination in early September. He was accused of disregarding a federal mandate as the head of Ohio EPA that called for reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides from power plants, and he has opposed the federal government's filing of new source review clean air lawsuits against Midwestern power plants. Region V EPA recently released a review of Ohio EPA for an alleged failure to implement several key environmental and public health laws during Schregardus' tenure at Ohio EPA. EPA's lengthy investigation concluded that there are multiple flaws in the state's air pollution program, and found that Ohio's air-pollution program is understaffed, poorly trained, and ineffective at identifying sources of pollution. On Sept. 17, 2001, Schregardus withdrew his candidacy for confirmation due to the trouble his nomination was facing in the Senate. Many breathed a sigh of relief for the environment upon Schregardus' withdrawal. However, he has since been appointed to the newly-created post of Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Environment for the Navy, a post which does not require Senate confirmation. The Bush administration obviously does not care that he was found entirely unfit to work at EPA to protect the environment, as he was simply handed another position that did not go through the confirmation process. Marianne Lamont Horinko's nomination to the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response was unanimously approved by the Senate on Sept. 25, 2001, but then held up by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), who blocked her nomination while waiting for her response to his request for information on whether Horinko supports applying the Davis-Beacon Act, which requires workers to be paid prevailing wage rates, to cleanup work that would be funded by a bill (H.R. 2869) that promotes the clean up and redevelopment of polluted industrial sites known as brownfields. Reid decided to clear the way for the vote on the nomination and deal with the brownfields issue later, even though he did not receive information from Horninko, according to BNA. John Peter Suarez was approved to be Assistant Administrator to EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance on July 25. Suarez was nominated by President Bush in April after his controversial first choice, Donald Schregardus, withdrew his nomination when the Senate announced it would not confirm him. Suarez most recently served as director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, which oversees the state's casino industry. According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Suarez has no experience in environmental law nor does he have experience in civil litigation, which is a large part of the OECA workload, other than his experience overseeing the state's casinos. Suarez had a seven-year tenure as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey and prior to that served as then-Governor Whitman's assistant counsel. Not only does Suarez not have environmental law experience, there is nothing distinguishing in his record, in fact, while serving as a federal prosecutor, Suarez filed fewer cases, won fewer convictions, took more time and obtained shorter sentences than the average prosecutor in both his district and the country, according to PEER. Jean-Marie Peltier has been appointed Counselor to the Administrator on Agriculture. In this position she will be the central contact for EPA cooperation with the USDA in areas of joint policy (including pesticide issues) and other interagency efforts. As Earthjustice notes (its research was provided by the Clearinghouse on Environmental Advocacy Research and White House Watch) Peltier served as President of the California Citrus Quality Council prior to assuming this position. She formerly worked in California's Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and before that she served as President of California Pear Growers. Earthjustice also notes that Peltier supported extending the methyl bromide (an extremely high acute toxicity systemic pesticide) ban beyond the Clean Air Act's required phase out of 2001. While serving at the California DPR, she asked the EPA to relax requirements for the approval of certain pesticide exemptions (Section 18 exemptions, which allow temporary use of banned or experimental chemicals in case of an emergency). Peltier has spent most of her career representing various agricultural interests in California, which is responsible for 25 percent of the total pesticides applied in the U.S. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Mark Rey was confirmed on Sept. 26 to be the Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment. In this position he oversees the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and is responsible for the management of 156 national forests, 19 national grasslands, and 15 land utilization projects on 191 million acres in 44 states. As Earthjustice found in its research (provided by the Clearinghouse for Environmental Advoacy Research and White House Watch) on Rey, he has extensive and disturbing ties to the timber industry, having been employed by various "big timber" trade associations and organizations for over 20 years. He opposes the National Forest Roadless Conservation Policy, and has a record of leading the charge against even the most basic forest conservation measures. Earthjustice notes that as a staffer on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, Rey authored and defended a bill (Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) version of the National Forest Management Act) that did away with citizen oversight committees and other environmental safeguards. In 1995 he supported a "salvage rider" which exempted logging in our national forests from all environmental laws and compelled the logging of thousands of acres of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest that the Forest Service itself had declined to cut for environmental reasons. Perhaps most alarming, Rey was a featured speaker at two events put on with the help of the "Wise Use" organization, whose goal, as stated by a founding board member, is to "destroy, to eradicate the environmental movement. We want to be able to exploit the environment for private gain, absolutely." President Bush took the opportunity while Congress was in recess to appoint controversial nominee Thomas Dorr as Undersecretary of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which will allow him to serve for a year without Senate confirmation. Recess appointments are not uncommon for contentious nominees that lack bipartisan support when the Senate and executive branch are controlled by opposing parties. Yet President Bush went even further than most presidents in appointing Dorr, because Dorr did not even have the support of fellow Republicans. Only one Republican on the 21-member Senate Agriculture Committee showed up to vote on his nomination. The Senate Agriculture Committee sent Dorr's name to the floor with no recommendation. At the time, Rep. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the committee, said, "Mr. Dorr lacks the judgment, outlook and temperament for this very important position for rural America…The record also shows that as the CEO of a corporation, Mr. Dorr, in filing false information with USDA, does not meet the standard set by President Bush when he signed a new law on corporate responsibility just last week." Harkin warned the administration not to give a recess appointment, and threatened to reopen an investigation into the finances of the Dorr family's farm operations, as reported in the DesMoines Register. Harkin also reportedly threatened to issue subpoenas to the USDA for records that it has refused to give to the Senate Agriculture Committee surrounding Dorr's repayment to the government of $17,000 for violations of government payment rules in 1994 and 1995. Dorr's family reportedly agreed to repay another $17,000 for other violations revealed during the USDA investigation following the nomination. Food and Drug Administration Mark B. McClellan -- a top health policy adviser to the president and brother of White House spokesman Scott McClellan -- has been confirmed to serve as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unlike many Bush appointees who are now responsible for regulating former employers, McClellan has never worked for the pharmaceutical industry. This helped secure the support of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chair of the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the nomination, who reportedly insisted on independence. Previously, McClellan served as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration, and on the National Cancer Policy Board of the National Academy of Sciences. He has a medical degree from Harvard, a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his specialty is reportedly in health economics, specifically the costs and benefits of new medical technologies. The FDA employs more than 9,000 people, regulates almost a fourth of the U.S. economy, including the pharmaceutical industry, and deals with highly politicized issues, including whether to allow marketing of RU 486, the "abortion drug," how to deal with bio-terrorism, and what level of rigor to employ in reviewing new drug applications. Many of these issues were raised at his confirmation hearing, but McClellan was generally noncommittal and adopted a conciliatory tone, saying he would listen to everyone’s point of view. In response to industry complaints that FDA is too slow in approving new drugs, McClellan promised to work with industry to improve the process, offering no specific plan. White House Council on Environmental Quality James Connaughton has been confirmed as Chair of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The CEQ Chair is responsible for developing broad policies to bring together the nation's environmental, social, and economic priorities. The CEQ Chair also advises and assists the president on national and international environmental policy matters and prepares the president's annual environmental quality report to Congress. As Earthjustice's research points out (provided by the Clearinghouse for Environmental Advoacy Research and White House Watch) Connaughton, as a partner at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood law firm's Environmental Practice Group, has represented and counseled corporate and trade association clients on environmental management systems, legislation, regulation, treaty and trade law, international standards and complex natural resource litigation at the state, federal, and international levels. He represented General Electric and ASARCO in their superfund fights with EPA, and also lobbied on environmental issues on behalf of major corporate interests such as Aluminum Company of America, ASARCO, Atlantic Richfield, the Chemical Manufactures Association, and General Electric. Department of Energy (DOE) Frank Blake was confirmed as Deputy Secretary of Energy on May 25, 2001. Blake worked at General Electric as Senior Vice President, Corporate Business Development, and held numerous positions in GE's Power Systems Division before being promoted to Vice President of the company. Prior to working for GE, Blake was a partner with Swidler, Berlin, Shereff, Friedman, LLP in Washington, DC. From 1981 to 1983, Blake served as Deputy Counsel to then Vice-President George Bush and as General Counsel of EPA from 1985 to 1988. (Note: Blake resigned in March of 2002.) Robert Card was confirmed to be Under Secretary at the Department of Energy. Most recently, Card was President and CEO of a nuclear cleanup contractor that has been fined or penalized more than $725,000 for numerous worker safety, procurement, and other violations since 1996, according to a report done by the Center for Public Integrity. While Card headed Kaiser-Hill, the company contracted to clean up and close Rocky Flats -- a former nuclear weapons site in Colorado -- a DOE manager reportedly reprimanded the company for having poor management and a "serious deficiency" in safety performance. Also lurking in Card's corporate past, CH2M Hill, the company at which Card spent his entire career previous to Kaiser-Hill, was found by a House subcommittee on oversight and investigations to have overcharged the EPA superfund for environmental cleanups by millions of dollars. Up to his confirmation, Card still served as a director of CH2M Hill, and has been a senior vice president since 1995. Department of Justice (DOJ) Thomas Sansonetti was confirmed on Nov. 30, 2001, to be the Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources at the Department of Justice. He will be responsible for defending the nation's environmental laws and defending legal challenges to the government's environmental programs and activities. Sansonetti previously worked with Gale Norton, serving as Associate Solicitor at Interior in the 1980s. According to Earthjustice's research (provided by the Clearinghouse for Environmental Advoacy Research and White House Watch), Sansonetti has been a member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal network that has been staunchly opposed to federal regulations under many environmental laws, for over a decade. Working for a private firm, Holland and Hart, Sansonetti lobbied on behalf of corporate mining interests, including Arch Coal, and Peabody Coal. Department of the Navy Donald Schregardus, who withdrew his nomination to head EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance in the face of fierce Senate opposition, has been appointed to the newly-created post of Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Environment for the Navy, a post which does not require Senate confirmation. The duties of the new post are still unclear but would likely involve oversight of environmental compliance and contaminated site cleanup for the Navy. See previous discussion of Schregardus' environmental "qualifications." Department of Defense (DOD) Mike Parker has been confirmed as Assistant Secretary of the Army, Office of Civil Works. Parker will oversee the Army Corps of Engineers which manages and executes civil works programs and administers the laws that protect and preserve our rivers, streams, and wetlands. Earthjustice found that Parker questioned the validity of the Corp's environmental mission in 1998 and received a score of 0 out of 100 from the League of Conservation Voters for his voting record in the House. Parker is backed by Trent Lott (R-MS) along with the barge industry, both of whom stand to benefit from the expensive and environmentally destructive civil works projects that are located along or near the Mississippi River. Parker has already made clear his position on conservation by approving the weakening of rules designed to protect wetlands from destruction through the Clean Water Act. The new rules benefit coal companies that perform "mountaintop removal" operations, and as the Washington Post reports, Parker recently lobbied for CSX Corp, a company that benefits directly from mountaintop removal. Department of Labor (DOL) Eugene Scalia, son of Justice Antonin Scalia, was appointed by President Bush during the congressional recess to serve as the Solicitor for the Department of Labor. The Bush White House cited Constitutional authority to appoint Scalia during the recess, escaping the Senate confirmation process while allowing Scalia to serve until Congress recesses again at the end of next year. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee narrowly approved Scalia by a vote of 11-10 on Oct. 16, 2001, but the controversial nomination has yet to be brought to a vote on the floor. As Solicitor, Scalia has jurisdiction over a wide range of legal and regulatory issues, ranging from mine safety and job training, to migrant workers and pension rights. A very controversial nomination, Scalia represents the most strident opponents of an ergonomics standard to protect workers against repetitive motion injuries, which is currently a hot issue at DOL. Scalia represents the typical Bush nominee however, in that he has built his career opposing a specific regulation, and will now be in a powerful position at the very agency in charge of regulating the issue he has been fighting against. As Solicitor, his name will go on many briefs that find their way to the Supreme Court, which may require his father, Antonin, to recuse himself. As a labor lawyer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Scalia specialized in representing management in labor disputes. He is an expert at downplaying the importance of worker safety, especially the dangers of repetitive-stress injury. Scalia has become a leader in the anti-ergonomics movement, referring to repetitive-stress injuries as "junk science," "quackery," and "strange." Even though ergonomics is a well-documented science that affects over 600,000 American workers annually, Scalia calls it a "psychosocial issue" implying that those who suffer are faking the symptoms. At his confirmation hearing, he stated that he did not think there was any justification for a rule on ergonomics. As Solicitor at DOL, Scalia will be the top lawyer, overseeing more than 500 attorneys across the nation who administer and enforce labor regulations. He will have broad influence to determine how laws are interpreted, how vigorously they are enforced, which cases to prosecute, and those to ignore. Labor Department lawyers, unlike at other federal agencies, have the authority to litigate cases without Justice Department clearance. Cameron Findlay has been confirmed to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Labor. As the number two official in the department, Findlay will act as the department's chief operating officer, oversee the department's budget process, chair the Policy Planning Board, and serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary on a wide range of issues. Most recently, Findlay was a partner at Sidley Austin Brown and Wood, litigating and counseling for firms in energy, telecommunications, financial and other regulated industries. Findlay has served under former President Bush as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation at the Department of Transportation and also as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Chief of Staff. Previous to joining the former Bush administration, Findlay served as a law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court. Chris Spear was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Labor on April 6, 2001. He is responsible for providing advice and counsel to the Secretary of Labor on a vast array of labor issues that affect the American worker. Spear previously served as Legislative Director for Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), and prior to that as Staff Director of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training, chaired by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY). Spear also served two years as a Legislative Assistant for Enzi on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and shepherded legislation for third-party certification, a proposal that would allow employers to avoid OSHA enforcement actions by hiring a private consultant to offer advice on health and safety issues. Labor unions and most Democrats have strongly opposed the Enzi third-party certification proposal, arguing that it takes the teeth out of OSHA by exempting companies from penalties whether they are in compliance with standards or not. Moreover, serious conflicts of interests would likely emerge, as consultants (third-party) would have to be relied on to blow the whistle on employers who provide their paychecks. This legislation did not go through due to opposition by unions and Senate Democrats, but there has been talk of making it an administrative program, rather than legislative. Spear was directly involved with this legislative campaign, and will be one to watch now that he has an inside track at DOL. David D. Lauriski was confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Labor for Mine Safety and Health on May 9, 2001. Mr. Lauriski spent 30 years in the coal mining industry, most recently working as the General Manager for Energy West Mining Company, one of the largest underground coal producers in the United States. Mr. Lauriski has served as the Chairman of the Utah Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining, and as a board member of the Utah Mining Association. Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) Gary Visscher has been named Deputy Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health. Visscher was a former commissioner on the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission appointed by President Clinton and a longtime congressional aide before that. Visscher resigned that post early in November of 2000 and was named Vice President for Employee Relations at the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). An AISI online newsletter explains that it was "deeply involved in the effort to prevent the expensive and unworkable [ergonomic] regulations" passed during the Clinton Administration. AISI also testified during OSHA's rulemaking and initiated its own litigation against the standard after OSHA issued the final rule in Nov. 2000. AISI "joined a number of other business organizations in urging Congress to overturn the standard, an effort that successfully culminated with President Bush's signature on the Joint Resolution of Disapproval." During his tenure at the OSHRC, Visscher was known to be the lone Republican and issued a dissenting opinion in the Beverly Case, which many OSHA experts say is one of the most important cases on ergonomics. Like Eugene Scalia, Visscher is obviously opposed to one of the standards that it may be his job to enforce, that is if the administration ever develops one. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) The NLRB is an independent federal agency that administers the National Labor Relations Act. It conducts secret-ballot elections to determine whether employees desire union representation and it investigates and remedies unfair labor practices by private sector employers and unions. **J. Robert Brame is reportedly being considered for nomination to chair the National Labor Relations Board. Brame served on the NLR Board from 1997 to 2000 and often argued for the reversal of well-established national labor policy and for the curbing of employees' rights to unionize. Brame has been a labor and employment lawyer at McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe since 1967 and a partner since 1972. Brame has reportedly resigned his membership from the right-wing Christian extremist group American Vision, though he is currently listed as Secretary of the Board on their web-site. American Vision advocates a "restoration of America's biblical foundation," as well as capital punishment for homosexuals and execution of adulterers as a solution to divorce problems. Brame's anti-union stance and history of leadership in an anti-democratic right-wing extremist group make him a very dangerous candidate for workers, the very group he would be charged with supporting in this position. Just one day before Congress returned on January 23, Bush made two recess appointments to the NLRB on January 22, once again bypassing the Senate in appointing controversial nominees for important labor posts. Michael J. Bartlett, director of Labor Law Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and William B. Cowen, principal attorney for Institutional Labor Advisors LLC, both represent a pro-management perspective. John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, said that Bush's maneuver and choice of two stridently pro-management lawyers "is a troubling sign of this administration's unwillingness to maintain any kind of balance at the nation's top agency mandated with safeguarding workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively." The additions of these two posts to the NLRB give it a 3-1 pro-management tilt. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Mary Sheila Gall was nominated by Bush to serve as Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). She was the first Bush nominee to be officially rejected by the Senate, in rebuke of the administration's demonstrated hostility to health and safety protections. Gall served on the CPSC for the past 10 years, with a record of pro-industry actions. She voted against federal efforts to regulate baby walkers, baby bath seats, bunk beds, and has frequently blamed children's injuries on parents rather than faulty products. Gall has a hands-off regulatory philosophy that extols the virtues of industry "self-regulation." Sen. Edwards (D-NC) noted that the chair of the Commission gives a voice to the consumer "and under Mary Gall, that voice would be silent." After Gall's rejection in the Senate, President Bush chose Harold "Hal" D. Stratton to replace Ann Brown as Chair of the CPSC. Stratton is currently a partner with the Albuquerque law firm of Stratton and Cavin. He served as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from 1979 to 1986, where his committee assignments included the Judiciary Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. From 1987 to 1990, Stratton served as the Attorney General of New Mexico. He has also served as a former Advisory Board Member of Defenders of Property Rights. Department of Education Gerald Reynolds has been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights, which is instrumental in formulating administration policy on affirmative-action programs and monitoring colleges' compliance with gender-equity requirements for intercollegiate athletics. The nomination has caused concern in the civil rights and higher education communities alike, due to the fact that Reynolds has been an outspoken opponent of affirmative action in college admissions. Reynolds has served as senior regulatory counsel at Kansas City Power and Light since 1998. Prior to that, he was president and legal counsel for the Center for New Black Leadership and a legal analyst for the Center for Equal Opportunity - two groups that have helped to fund the legal campaign against the use of affirmative action in college admissions. Brian Jones has been confirmed to serve as General Counsel at the Department of Ed. In his confirmation hearing said he had opposed using race in college admissions, but that his views had softened. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights On December 6, 2001, the White House announced the appointment of Peter N. Kirsanow to sit on the Commission. The appointment was contested by the Chair of the Commission, Mary Frances Berry, who held that there was no vacancy to fill, and that the appointment is retaliation from the White House in response to the Commission's report concluding that minority rights had been violated in Florida during last year's election. Kirsanow would replace Victoria Wilson, who was just appointed in January of 2000. Both sides in the debate claim the law is on their side and took the issue to court. A federal judge ruled on February 4, 2002, to reject Bush's appointment of Kirsanow to the Commission, because Wilson has the right to serve a full six-year term. The Justice Department appealed the decision and in May the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in Kirsanow's favor. Kirsanow is a Cleveland labor lawyer, and chairman of the Center for New Black Leadership. He has been vocal in his opposition of affirmative action. **not confirmed