WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators used their majority to advance President Donald Trump’s nomination of a former coal-industry lobbyist to serve as the second-highest ranking official at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environment and Public Works Committee voted along party lines 11-10 on Wednesday to send the nomination of Andrew Wheeler to the full Senate for a vote.

Before his nomination as EPA’s deputy administrator, Wheeler was a lobbyist whose clients included Murray Energy, one of the nation’s largest coal mining companies.

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Wheeler accompanied company CEO Bob Murray last year during meetings to lobby the Trump administration to roll back environmental regulations affecting coal mines. Asked about the meetings during a November hearing before the Senate committee, Wheeler said he couldn’t remember details. The administration later carried out some of the recommended actions.