Storm delays Leavitt hearing

WASHINGTON — With Hurricane Isabel bearing down on Washington, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee postponed its scheduled hearing Thursday on Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt's nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

So, in one for the books, the environment itself halted the hearing on the proposed chief of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Meanwhile, Democrats kicked up a storm of their own: howling because Leavitt is refusing to answer in writing before his hearing questions they submitted to him. Leavitt said the White House told him not to because no other EPA nominee was ever asked to do that and it did not want to set a precedent.

Leavitt's confirmation hearing was tentatively rescheduled to 9 a.m. Tuesday. Leavitt quickly left Washington Wednesday after the hearing was postponed to ensure he would be able to beat the storm and return to Utah.

Earlier Wednesday the committee had polled its members on whether they should flee the hurricane or proceed with Leavitt's hearing. Leavitt was initially told they chose to proceed with the hearing.

"I guess that shows how important they consider it," Joanne Neumann, director of Leavitt's Washington office, said at the time. But two hours later, the committee called back and said members reconsidered and postponed the hearing.

The coming storm did not stop Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., a presidential candidate and member of the committee, from launching a new attack at Leavitt. He and fellow Democrats had submitted several written questions to Leavitt that they wanted answered in writing before the hearing, which Leavitt refused to do.

"I am outraged that Gov. Leavitt, under orders from the White House, will not answer my prehearing questions regarding his nomination as EPA administrator. It fits an all-too-familiar pattern of White House stonewalling and information control, especially on the environment and public health," Lieberman said.

Committee chairman Jame Inhofe, R-Okla., responded saying, "Gov. Leavitt received no official, written, prehearing questions from the EPW Committee. Moreover, subjecting an EPA administrator nominee to answer prehearing questions is unprecedented for the EPW Committee." Still, Lieberman said written questions have often been submitted to other nominees who appeared before other committees.

"The American people deserve to know if Gov. Leavitt will assert EPA's independence when it comes to the public health and the environment or will toe the White House's polluter-friendly line," Lieberman said.