Torrey Resigns and EPA Concerns

Michael Torrey, who was advising Donald Trump on setting up his administration at the USDA, has resigned from the transition team because of a five-year lobbying ban.

Torrey served as deputy chief of staff at the USDA during the George W. Bush administration.

The five-year lobbying ban applies to prospective presidential appointees as well as members of the transition team and the agency.

The EPA will survive the current political climate because environmental protection is supported by a majority of Americans. That’s according to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy at the National Press Club.

But underscoring the uncertain future her agency faces under a Trump Administration, McCarthy also said she had not been contacted by the presidential transition team to guide the change-over to a new administration.

On the campaign trail, Trump said he wanted to get rid of the EPA, but some speculate he may appoint someone like Myron Ebell, the leader of his EPA transition team and prominent climate skeptic, to head the agency.