Cory Booker Grills Michael Dourson On Senate Floor

Cory Booker, the junior United States Senator from New Jersey, isn’t a big fan of President Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA, as it is known, is the office that handles chemical safety issues for the public at large. The official vote on Michael Dourson has been postponed, but Booker made it overtly clear his feelings on the matter during the hearings, where he viciously berated Dourson, a scene that played out in front of both their colleagues and peers.

Booker’s main contention is that he feels Dourson, and companies which Dourson has been involved with, have downplayed the safety of toxic chemicals. Booker cites that many of the chemicals are linked to autism, and often are banned in the EU.

As it stands, Dourson is already advising EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. And stopping his nomination would require Republican votes, which in this political atmosphere, might be Democrats grasping at straws.

“During the hearing to consider his nomination, my colleagues and I expressed our grave concerns about Michael Dourson. Everything I’ve learned about him since then has underscored those concerns, and I find his current, unconfirmed role at EPA to be no less troubling,” said Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the committee’s highest ranking Democrat.

Needless to say, the Dourson nomination will stand as yet another frigid showdown between a largely divided Senate and House.