GOP lawmaker looks to impeach EPA chief

A Republican congressman is looking to impeach the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) is circulating a resolution calling for the impeachment of EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, accusing her of perjury while testifying before Congress this year.

{mosads}“Perjury and making false statements to Congress are an affront to the fundamental principles of our republic and the rule of law, and such behavior cannot be tolerated,” Gosar wrote in a letter to colleagues looking for co-sponsors for his resolution.

“This bill holds Administrator McCarthy accountable for her blatant deceptions and unlawful conduct.”

In the letter, Gosar accused McCarthy of perjuring herself several times while testifying before congressional committees since February.

In each case, McCarthy was discussing the agency’s rule expanding its regulatory power over waterways, something Gosar and other Republicans deeply opposed.

Many of Gosar’s accusations center around disagreements between the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers — the two agencies that wrote the water rule — and the way McCarthy discussed the formulation of the rule during her testimony.

“Administrator McCarthy committed perjury and made several false statements at multiple congressional hearings, and as a result, is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors – an impeachable offense,” Gosar alleges in the letter.

An EPA spokeswoman said the agency has no comment on the resolution.

Gosar has long been crticial of McCarthy and the EPA in general. His resolution is the latest Republican attack on the EPA over the water rule.  

The House passed a bill this summer to stop the rule, which the EPA finalized in May.

When a federal judge issued a injunction against the rule last month, Gosar called it “a job-killing, overreaching new regulation that would be a dream killer for future generations and result in significant job losses.”

The EPA has defended the rule’s legality and said the federal government has a responsibly to aggressively protect waterways from pollution.

—This post was updated at 2:21 p.m.