New York Times
Senate Panel Backs E.P.A. Nominee, With One Notable Exception
By DAVID STOUT
Published: April 13, 2005
WASHINGTON, April 13 - Stephen L. Johnson, a scientist who has spent 24 years at the Environmental Protection Agency, was overwhelmingly endorsed by a Senate committee today to be the new E.P.A. administrator. But a serious new threat to his confirmation arose.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted, 17 to 1, to send Mr. Johnson's nomination to the Senate floor. But the lone dissenter on the committee, Senator Thomas Carper, Democrat of Delaware, is weighing whether to put a "hold" on the nomination, an aide to the senator said.
Mr. Carper has complained that the Bush administration is blocking studies that he has requested on ways to cut power-plant pollution. "If Steve Johnson is to be an effective administrator, he needs to be unfettered by this administration," Mr. Carper told the committee. "To get the right legislation, we need to get good, timely technical data."...
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Mr. Carper's spokesman, Bill Ghent, told The Associated Press that the senator was "keeping his options open as far as blocking the nomination." Under Senate rules, any senator has the power to block the confirmation of a nominee indefinitely simply by imposing a "hold," a tactic that can even be invoked anonymously. (Under the rules, however, a hold can be voided by 60 votes.)...
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