Janet McCabe, professor of practice at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law, was confirmed by the United States Senate 52-42 to be the deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday.
The deputy administrator of the EPA serves as the second in command at the agency. President Joe Biden announced her nomination in January, days before he was inaugurated.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was the only Democrat in the Senate to oppose her confirmation. Three Republican senators voted to confirm McCabe. Six senators, all Republican, did not vote. Indiana’s Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun voted against her confirmation.
McCabe served in the EPA for former President Barack Obama’s eight years in office, four of which as the acting assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation.
McCabe has served as the director of the Environmental Resilience Institute at IU since 2019. The institute brings business leaders and government officials to consider how environmental changes could affect the health and economy of those living in Indiana, according to a Tuesday IU press release.
IU will soon announce a succession plan at the Environmental Resilience Institute, according to the press release.
"I'm honored to be returning to the EPA as deputy administrator and grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of the Environmental Resilience Institute and to teach the next generation of environmental lawyers at Indiana University these last four years," McCabe said in a press release.
IU President Michael McRobbie congratulated McCabe on her confirmation.
“On behalf of the Indiana University community, I want to congratulate Janet on her well-deserved confirmation to this important administrative post, and we look forward to her putting her talents, wisdom, experience and energy to work on behalf of citizens across our nation,” he said in a press release.
McCabe is a strong supporter of environmental regulations, some of which were rolled back by the Trump Administration. An example of one of those policies was Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which set carbon pollution limits on American power plants.
