Changed his mind after hearing energy policy

New EPA chief in 2016: Trump’s a ‘bully’

But Andrew Wheeler says he changed his mind after hearing the future president talk about energy policy.

By ANTHONY ADRAGNA and ERIC WOLFF

Scott Pruitt’s replacement as leader of the EPA once dismissed Donald Trump as a “bully” with so-so business skills — the kinds of slights the president rarely forgets.

“[A]s a businessman, he really hasn't been that successful. He is a successful PR person, but not a businessman,” Deputy EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, then an environmental adviser to Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post in February 2016. “[H]e has more baggage then all of the other Republican candidates combined.”

And, Wheeler wrote at the time, “he is a bully. This alone should disqualify him from the White House.”

But Wheeler, a longtime coal industry lobbyist, said he changed his mind about Trump in 2016 after hearing the then-candidate delve into energy issues at a rally and subsequent fundraising dinner that June. And he’s been riding the Trump train ever since.

Trump “gave a 40-minute energy speech where he didn’t use notes or a teleprompter,” Wheeler said in a statement to POLITICO late Thursday. “And as I have stated previously it was the most comprehensive energy speech by a presidential candidate I had ever heard.”

Wheeler also wrote $1,000 checks to both the joint fundraising committee Trump Victory and Donald J. Trump for President on June 30, 2016, according to FEC disclosures.

If Trump is harboring a grudge over the past criticisms, it wasn’t evident Thursday, when the president showered Wheeler with praise after tapping him to serve as acting EPA administrator following Pruitt’s resignation.

Wheeler “has been with me actually a long time,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “He was very much an early Trump supporter. He was with us on the campaign. He is a very environmental person. He’s a big believer, and he’s going to do a fantastic job.”

The Washington Post reported on Wheeler’s previous criticisms last October, after Trump had nominated him for the No. 2 EPA slot. Wheeler pushed back in October 2017 internal emails with EPA’s media relations staff, arguing that “the press had been misrepresenting [Trump’s] views” and saying he hadn’t focused on Trump before making the comments on Facebook.

Now, people familiar with Wheeler predict he will faithfully pursue the president’s aggressive deregulatory agenda — though without the lavish spending and ethical woes that doomed Pruitt.

“Andrew will continue a lot of what Pruitt put in motion,” said Matt Dempsey, a managing director at FTI Consulting who worked with Wheeler on the Hill. “I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of separation there. … That’s where Andrew’s strong suit comes in, understanding his role in the process.”

Dempsey noted that it’s not unusual for someone to switch candidates during an election cycle. Pruitt, a former Jeb Bush supporter, had once warned that Trump would be “abusive to the Constitution” if elected.

In an op-ed he wrote days after the 2016 election, Wheeler praised Trump's willingness to lay out his energy and environmental beliefs.

“While much of the Trump administration’s environmental policies will be framed by his political appointees, it is important to remember that he did not shy away from taking positions on the major environmental issues during the campaign and his appointees will be expected to follow his direction,” he wrote for Law360.

Wheeler’s Twitter feed shows he strong supports Republican-led efforts to shrink EPA regulatory authority, and he argued the Paris climate agreement must be ratified as a treaty by the Senate and opposed efforts by the Democratic-led Congress in 2010 to pass comprehensive climate change legislation.

And Wheeler has praised Trump's stances on other topics, retweeting articles backing Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement, questioning redactions in a report from the House Intelligence Committee on Russia’s election meddling and one titled “The Barack Obama Legacy Deserves To Be Destroyed.”

Many people know Wheeler, who was also a long-time aide to Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) at the Environment and Public Works Committee, as someone who will be more skilled than Pruitt was at navigating the bureaucratic hurdles of Washington at implementing policy. And it’s the reason some environmentalists fear he may be better equipped to implement an aggressive deregulatory agenda.

Jeffrey Holmstead, partner at the law firm of Bracewell and a former acting administrator for air at EPA with fossil fuel industry clients, has worked with Wheeler for years on issues before the agency.

“I think we’ll see a much more typical EPA with Andy there. I just don’t think there’s going to be nearly as much press attention, not only in the controversy, but just in terms of the way EPA does its day to day business,” he said.

Wheeler’s been a consistent GOP donor, as well, making contributions to his former boss Inhofe, current EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and former Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) in recent cycles. Wheeler also gave regularly to the PAC of his former firm, Faegre Baker Daniels.

But those that know him expect Wheeler to bring a decidedly lower-key and less dramatic approach to running the agency where he once worked.

“I am both humbled and honored to take on this new responsibility at the same agency where I started my career over 25 years ago,” Wheeler wrote in his message to staff following Pruitt’s resignation. “I look forward to working hard alongside all of you to continue our collective goal of protecting public health and the environment on behalf of the American people.”

Wheeler's role in the Washington policy trenches rather than as a political candidate is also shows that he's likely to avoid some of the political scandals that marred Pruitt's tenure.

“I don’t think he has any political ambitions beyond doing this job. He’s not planning to run for office. I don’t think anyone disagrees, Pruitt saw this as a stepping stone for something else and I don’t think Andy has any political ambitions and I think that will be healthy for EPA," Holmstead said.