On path to confirmation, Trump's EPA pick has tried to avoid Pruitt's missteps

WASHINGTON - Andrew Wheeler, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, has two things going for him when appears before senators Wednesday at his confirmation hearing.

First, he's not Scott Pruitt, who was forced to resign last year under a cloud of ethics investigations.

Second, with a 53-seat Republican majority in the Senate, the numbers are on his side.

But Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist who replaced Pruitt to become acting EPA chief last year, will still face a grilling from Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public