Whitman To Be Tapped For EPA

While Whitman and her staff refused to comment on the reports, sources quoted by the Associated Press and The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.) said an announcement can be expected soon, possibly today. The appointment will mean Whitman will leave the state’s governor's office a year early.

Whitman brushed off reporters yesterday in a State House hallway.

"I have absolutely nothing to say," she said. "I told you, when there is something to say, it will be said. It's not now and it's not here."

Allies of the governor said the EPA position is tailor-made for her because of her experience with environmental issues in New Jersey. They say the post - a Cabinet-level job which, while not historically part of the Cabinet, has been treated as such by recent presidents - will keep Whitman in the national spotlight on an issue about which she feels passionately.

But critics say that despite her high-profile initiative to preserve a million acres of land in New Jersey, her environmental record is spotty. And political analysts suggest Whitman will have to tread lightly when dealing with business interests, which represent a crucial Republican constituency. That could prevent her from turning the position - a complex and challenging one in any administration - into a starring role in the Bush administration.

As governor of Texas, Bush has emphasized incentives to encourage industry to voluntarily clean up its act, as opposed to toughening regulations. Nationally, he has advocated leaving more control in the hands of the states.

William K. Reilly, who headed the agency for Bush's father, butted heads frequently with the senior Bush's economic advisers.

David Norcross, the Republican national committeeman for New Jersey and a Bush campaign adviser in the Northeast, said the job will be difficult but Whitman is a great choice.

"You've got a moderate, Northeast, Republican female," he said. "It's clear Bush is trying to put together an eclectic, competent Cabinet, and she fits that mold very well. She has a strong commitment to the environment and a track record of balancing business and environmental interests. She's angered both sides at times, which probably is the best you could hope for when walking that narrow path."

Norcross believes the job was "a top choice" for Whitman "if not her first choice."

Others, however, suggest Whitman might have preferred the job of ambassador to the United Nations or a true Cabinet post such as secretary of health and human services or secretary of education.

But conservative Republicans, who played a vital role in Bush's election, probably kept her out of the running for those posts. They have fought against a Whitman appointment because of her strong pro-choice stance on abortion - particularly her rejection of a state ban on partial-birth abortions - and her support for gay rights.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the prominent evangelist, warned of a conservative backlash if Bush tried to appoint Whitman to a post with oversight of social policy. And Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., in an interview Sunday on "Meet the Press," suggested Bush could count on Senate confirmation for Whitman, but only for certain posts.

"I think it's a good job for her," said longtime Whitman friend and adviser Hazel Gluck. "I think there were problems with the conservatives on some of the other posts, like ambassador to the U.N., which I think she would have been great for. Jerry Falwell said she couldn't get a judgeship. He doesn't even know she's not a lawyer. What an idiot! That kind of stuff is like a vendetta at this point."

U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., made it clear yesterday that he'll get Democrats to back Whitman. "It can only be helpful for New Jersey to have an EPA administrator who knows our state and its disproportionate environmental problems," Torricelli told The Times. "I think it's a good appointment."

Rutgers University Professor Ross Baker said Whitman will have her work cut out for her.

"To be the Republican head of the Environmental Protection Agency is a very difficult thing," he said. "The Democrats can take a much more straightforward pro-environment position. But business is an important constituency for the Republicans. She's got to not appear to be a front woman for the loosening of environmental laws, but also she has to be mindful of the concerns of industry. I think what kind of job she does is going to determine whether it will be a steppingstone or a tombstone."

Carl Golden, a Republican consultant who served as Whitman's first press secretary, said he doubts Whitman views the post as a steppingstone.

"Clearly it's something very close to her," he said. "I think she looks at this as another phase in her public service career. This is a top-level policy position that has national impact."

Golden believes Bush, despite Democratic criticism of his environmental record in Texas, will allow Whitman to make her mark protecting the environment.

"I think he's looking to establish a strong record," Golden said. "Why else would he select someone who has a national profile such as Christie Whitman has? She's not a person who is going to take a job at the EPA only to see it marginalized or trivialized."

Former Gov. Jim Florio, defeated by Whitman in 1993, said the governor has "caused some apprehension" among environmentalists in New Jersey by deeply cutting the budget for the state Department of Environmental Protection as well as the number of fines levied against polluters. Florio, one of the authors of the national Superfund law during his tenure in Congress, said Whitman will face great pressure in her new role.

"She would face major problems in dealing with the Republicans in Congress, like (House Majority Whip) Tom DeLay, who want to dismantle the EPA and those in the GOP who say they want a better environment but don't want to make the polluters pay for it," Florio said.