The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm David Fotouhi as EPA deputy administrator while setting the stage to similarly approve Stephen Vaden to become second-in-command at the Agriculture Department.
Senators confirmed Fotouhi, an industry lawyer who also served in President Donald Trump’s first administration, by a 53-41 margin along party lines. They then voted 48-45 to end debate on Vaden’s nomination, with the final confirmation vote scheduled for later Tuesday afternoon.
Fotouhi is the third of Trump’s EPA picks to secure confirmation, after Administrator Lee Zeldin and general counsel Sean Donahue. A half-dozen nominations are still pending, including those of Aaron Szabo to head the Office of Air and Radiation and Jessica Kramer to lead the Office of Water.
After serving in top jobs in EPA’s Office of General Counsel during Trump’s first term, Fotouhi has spent the last few years as a partner at the firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, where his client list has encompassed numerous businesses regulated by EPA, including carmakers Toyota and Mercedes-Benz and Matador Resources, an oil and gas producer, according to a financial disclosure report.
