"President Trump has nominated his top regulatory official to take over a vacant seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, according to a White House pool report.

Trump announced that he selected Neomi Rao, the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, to fill the seat vacated by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The D.C. Circuit is considered the second highest court in the country and, as in Kavanaugh's case, has been a steppingstone to the Supreme Court.

At OIRA, Rao has been central to the Trump administration's efforts to roll back regulations. Last month, she touted federal agencies for rolling back four regulations for every new regulation added."

Niina Heikkinen reports for Greenwire November 13, 2018. [2]