NC SENATE COMMITTEE VOTES TO REJECT COOPER NOMINEE TO RUN DEQ: A state Senate committee voted Wednesday to reject the nomination of Dionne Delli-Gatti, Gov. Roy Cooper’s nominee to head the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. The vote represents the first time the Senate has moved not to confirm a cabinet-level secretary since the process was created following Cooper’s
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Gov. Cooper has appointed Dionne Delli-Gatti as state Clean Energy Director, after the Senate rejected her as environmental secretary.
Republicans in the state Senate on Thursday rejected Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper s nomination of Dionne Delli-Gatti as environmental secretary. The governor immediately appointed her to another environmental job, as Clean Energy Director. And he named Chief Deputy Secretary John Nicholson as interim secretary.
The 26-20 vote along party lines wasn t a surprise, coming 24 hours after a Republican-controlled Senate committee voted against recommending Delli-Gatti.
North Carolina General Assembly Sen. Paul Newton
Sen. Paul Newton of Cabarrus County led Republican opposition, largely because of a disagreement with Cooper over energy policy. Specifically, Newton said Delli-Gattishould be disqualified because during her confirmation testimony in April she was unable to answer questions about the governor s natural gas strategy. Newton complained a
NC Senate nixes environment chief, but Cooper rehires her
GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press
June 3, 2021
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Dionne Delli-Gatti, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, speaks to reporters at the Legislative Office Building, on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in Raleigh, N.C. A state Senate committee recommended Wednesday that Delli-Gatti not be confirmed for the secretary s position. Gov. Roy Cooper picked her for the job.Gary D. Robertson/AP
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) A sharply divided North Carolina Senate on Thursday formally rejected Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper s choice to lead his environmental department, with Republicans who insisted the nominee was ill-prepared for the post winning the vote.