Senate panel votes down Wheeler nomination; fight not over
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Democratic committee in the Virginia Senate voted Tuesday against including former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler in the new Republican governor's Cabinet, though the move is likely not the final say on the matter.
On a 9-6 party-line vote, the committee stripped Wheeler — Gov. Glenn Youngkin's pick for secretary of natural and historic resources — from a resolution approving the governor's other Cabinet appointees. The panel then advanced the resolution, taking no issue with anyone else.
Wheeler's appointment could ultimately prevail if any Democrat on the narrowly divided Senate floor joined with Republicans to add his name back to the resolution.
At least one Democrat, Joe Morrissey, has indicated he is open to backing Wheeler. Morrissey was not a member of the panel that voted Tuesday.
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