Sheldon Whitehouse Questions EPA Nominee Sean Donahue's Legal Qualifications

Questioning Legal Experience

• ❓ Senator Sheldon Whitehouse questioned EPA nominee Sean Donahue regarding his legal background, specifically the maximum number of lawyers he supervised (up to 10, including summer associates) and his role as an associate at a Buffalo law firm.
• ⚠️ Whitehouse highlighted that Donahue was terminated by the Buffalo firm after one year and six months.
• 🚫 Donahue confirmed he has not practiced law elsewhere as an associate besides the Buffalo firm and the Solar Company, where he supervised no lawyers.

Litigation and Bar Exam History

• ❌ Donahue stated he has never taken a deposition or tried a case to verdict, relying on outside counsel for litigation at the Solar Company.
• ⚖️ He also admitted to never having argued a motion.
• 📚 In a significant revelation, Donahue confirmed he took the bar exam in Washington D.C. once and failed to pass before eventually passing.

EPA Compliance and Grant Errors

• 🏛️ When asked about counseling the EPA administrator to violate a court order, Donahue stated he would never do so.
• 📰 Whitehouse raised concerns about an internal EPA memorandum, reported by The Washington Post, detailing a significant error in terminating grants.
• 📉 The error involved citing contractual language that did not apply to many terminated grants, with almost half finalized outside the relevant period.
• ❓ Donahue acknowledged seeing the reporting and stated the agency is working to track down an answer regarding the restoration of impacted grants.