INV-060 · Money & ethics · Donors and policy
Clean-air exemptions after AdvaMed's $1M gift, handled by its ex-lobbyist
Stage 1 of 5: Reported · News reporting only · Last development Oct 2026
In July 2025 Trump used a never-before-used Clean Air Act clause to exempt chemical plants and medical-device sterilizers from 2024 air-toxics rules for two years, citing national security. The New York Times reports that three months earlier the medical-device trade group AdvaMed gave $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc., and that the waivers were handled at EPA by Aaron Szabo, a former AdvaMed lobbyist who had fought the sterilizer rule. Related cases: INV-026, INV-031, INV-032.
Reported only, by the New York Times. Donations and lobbying are legal, and no official body has found that the gifts influenced the exemptions. Advocacy groups are challenging the exemptions in court on environmental grounds, not over the donations.
- People
- Donald Trump, Aaron Szabo, Scott Whitaker
- Agencies
- EPA, White House
- Reviewed by
- Press
Money involved
Timeline
Szabo resigns from EPA and joins a law firm that has represented industry in challenges to the same rules (NYT). [1]
After having staff strike provisions he once lobbied against, Szabo orders the fence-line monitoring requirement dropped, despite a staff memo calling that "difficult to justify" (NYT). [1]
AdvaMed tells members its lobbying, "which included political contributions", paid off: "Membership has its privileges" (letter quoted by the NYT; exact date not given). [1]
Trump signs two proclamations exempting chemical plants and medical-device sterilizers from the 2024 air-toxics rules for two years, citing national security under Clean Air Act section 112(i)(4). Per the NYT, about 50 chemical plants and 40 sterilizers are covered, and 202 facilities in 39 states and Puerto Rico have been exempted in total. [2]
Aaron Szabo, a former AdvaMed lobbyist who had fought the 2024 sterilizer rule for the group, becomes head of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation and helps handle the waiver requests. According to emails reviewed by the NYT, he suggested to the White House that the president could use the exemption clause, which no president had used before (exact date not given). [1]
AdvaMed gives $1 million to MAGA Inc. (per the NYT) the same day its CEO Scott Whitaker attends a dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago; it had also given $125,000 to the inauguration fund. Whitaker says ethylene oxide did not come up. [1]
About 11 days into the term, the American Chemistry Council and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers petition EPA Administrator Zeldin to ask the president for national-security exemptions from the 2024 air-toxics rules (exact date not given). [1]
Responses
- White House (Taylor Rogers): Said the exemptions were needed because Biden-era rules demanded "technologies that don't exist". [1]
- EPA: Says Szabo's ethics agreement let him work on "general" matters affecting many companies, but not "particular" matters for former clients, for one year. [1]
- Aaron Szabo: Declined to comment. [1]
Sources
Cite this case
Public Trust Tracker. "Clean-air exemptions after AdvaMed's $1M gift, handled by its ex-lobbyist" (INV-060). Last updated Oct 2026. https://publictrusttracker.org/case/inv-060-clean-air-exemptions-after-advameds-1m-gift-handled-by-its/
Suggest a fact check