Sen. Inhofe challenges White House Counsel over new hire’s Environmental Defense Fund history

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), challenged the recent hiring of Megan Ceronsky as a senior advisor for the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change.

In a letter to White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston, Inhofe raised concerns over Ceronsky’s past position as a senior official at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where she worked to push the implementation of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.

“It appears highly inappropriate to have Ms. Ceronsky serve in any capacity interacting with [Environmental Protection Agency] EPA or otherwise involved in the development of these rules, considering her prior legal representation and advocacy on behalf of EDF before EPA on these very same matters,” Inhofe said. “It is akin to having the fox watch the henhouse.”

Both the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch and the state bar requirements have regulations that would force Ceronsky not to participate in areas where she has a conflict of interest. In his letter, Inhofe requested information from Eggleston to determine if that is the case here.