The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) this week voted to advance the nomination of Jessica Kramer as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  

The nomination follows a hearing the committee held on March 26. Earlier in the week, Kramer provided keynote remarks at the National Water Policy Fly-In (see related story). 

Notably, Kramer’s nomination secured rare bipartisan support from the committee. In addition to all EPW Republicans voting in favor, five of the committee’s nine Democratic senators supported the nominee including Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.). 

Kramer formerly worked as legislative staff for EPW Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who strongly supported her nomination. Kramer most recently worked as the Deputy Secretary for Regulatory Programs at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.  

She also worked as a lobbyist at the firm Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck—where she lobbied for water system PFAS CERCLA liability protections for the NACWA-led Water Coalition Against PFAS—and in the U.S. EPA Office of Water during the first Trump Administration. She began her career as an environmental prosecutor and attorney for the Wisconsin Department of Justice. 

Her nomination now requires approval by the full Senate. The Senate has an accruing list of nominees to consider who have advanced out of their respective committees. It is not immediately clear when Kramer’s nomination will reach the Senate floor. In the interim, she will continue serving at EPA as Senior Advisor to the Administrator for Water. 

Contact Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s Managing Director of Government Affairs, with questions.