By Siddharth Cavale and Jarrett Renshaw
NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) – The White House was poised to nominate Justin Schwab, a top adviser to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, to lead the agency’s powerful air office after the current head said he would resign, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
But officeholder Aaron Szabo’s planned move to a law firm fell through at the last minute, aborting the nomination for now, one of the sources said. Szabo attended a series of farewell parties with staff before staying on, the sources said.
Szabo, who heads the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, had planned to leave the agency on July 17 for a private-sector job. He was asked to remain “a little longer to help further advance the President’s agenda and Power the Great American Comeback,” the EPA said after Reuters inquired about his status.
Schwab joined the EPA this month as a senior adviser from the White House Council on Environmental Quality and was deputy general counsel for the EPA during President Donald Trump’s first term.
SENATE CONFIRMATION UNCERTAIN
To permanently take over as air office head, Schwab would need the White House to nominate him and the Senate to confirm him. The Senate’s approval would be uncertain given the scope and influence of the position, which oversees major Clean Air Act programs as well as the Renewable Fuel Standard, a program that often pits farm-state lawmakers and biofuel producers against oil-state interests and refiners.
“Any and all personnel announcements will be made directly by the Administration,” a White House official said when asked about a potential Schwab nomination.
Schwab and Szabo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“We are excited to have Justin return to EPA and look forward to having him on the team as the agency continues to advance the President’s agenda under Administrator Zeldin’s leadership,” an EPA spokesperson said in response to an email sent to Schwab’s EPA address.
Szabo and Schwab are both affiliated with CGCN Group, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm. Szabo was named in 2018 as a partner at CGCN, whose clients included the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a trade group that has opposed stricter limits on particulate pollution. Schwab lists himself as founder of CGCN Law, an entity under CGCN providing specialized legal services, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The EPA did not say how long Szabo would remain in his position.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York and Jarrett Renshaw in Washington; additional reporting by Timothy McLaughlin in Boston; Editing by Liz Hampton and Rod Nickel)
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