US Senate Confirms Radhika Fox to Lead EPA’s Water Office

The US Senate upheld President Biden’s nomination of Radhika Fox to head the EPA’s water office.

Indian American Radhika Fox to head the EPA. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@radhikafox)

The US senate confirmed President Biden's nomination of Radhika Fox to lead the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water. Fox, an Indian American, becomes the first woman of colour to assume this leadership role.

The Senate confirmed Fox's nomination with a vote of 55-43 where she was praised by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper, a Democrat. He appreciated her record and highlighted her endorsements fro the US Chamber of Commerce, the Family Farm Alliance and the US Water Alliance.

Seven Republicans voted in favour of Fox. Committee Ranking member Shelly Moore Capito and another Republican shared her disagreement on the House floor.

“At that markup in May, I noted that I could not support Ms Fox at that time because she would not commit to maintaining the Navigable Waters Protection Rule issued in 2020. As I noted at that time, she also would not state that the 2015 Waters of the US Rule was overreaching.”

Shelly Moore Capito expressed her opposition to Radhika Fox’s appointment on the Senate floor

Fox holds degrees from the Columbia University and University of California. She has held office as CEO of US Water Alliance and Director of Policy and Government affairs at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.