Scott Pruitt resigns as EPA Administrator, Trump tweets

(RNN) – Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has resigned, President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday.

Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler will become the agency’s acting chief.

This comes as a series of ethics embarrassments have piled up for Pruitt throughout his tenure.

He’s been accused of misspending taxpayer money in various ways – on travel, security details, pay raises for staff and office extravagances – and of being cozy with the energy executives he’s charged with regulating.

In just the last month, reports have said he directly asked President Trump to replace Jeff Sessions as attorney general, kept "secret" calendars to hide certain meetings and calls that might "look bad," and heaped inappropriate personal requests on aides.

In that last instance, former aides said Pruitt enlisted them to get him tickets to the Rose Bowl college football game, help his daughter get an internship at the White House, help his wife franchise a Chick-fil-A restaurant, help his wife get a high-paying job with a conservative activist group, and book hotel reservations on their personal credit cards without ever paying them back.

The president had nonetheless continued to back Pruitt as an effective champion of his deregulatory policy priorities, and still maintained he had done an "outstanding job" in his tweet announcing the resignation.

Pruitt also was recently confronted at a DC restaurant by a woman who asked him to resign.

The mounting allegations have drawn bipartisan disapproval, with Republicans and Democrats voicing their concerns.

Pruitt faced harsh criticisms from House lawmakers over them during April appearances before Congressional committees, where he discussed the EPA’s budget.

"You are unfit to hold public office and undeserving of the public trust," Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ, told him.

Pruitt defended himself by arguing that news outlets had distorted popular perception of his conduct.

"Much of what has been targeted towards me and my team, has been half-truths, or at best stories that have been so twisted they do not resemble reality,” he said.

But even allies such as Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe have been struck by the brazenness of some of the indiscretions.

“I’m afraid my good friend Scott Pruitt has done some things that really surprised me,” Inhofe said on Fox News in June. “If that doesn’t stop I’m going to be forced to be in a position where I say, ‘Scott, you’re not doing your job.’”

Other scandals that have dogged Pruitt include his rental of a room in Washington at just $50 a night from a friendly lobbyist, two large raises given to close aides combining for more than $80,000, which the White House had previously denied, and his expensive travel and security demands.
 

Pruitt’s general financial stewardship of the EPA has come under examination, and The New York Times reported a number of high-ranking EPA officials were shifted from their posts when they questioned his expenditures.

He reportedly banned employees from bringing cell phones when meeting with him and sometimes even banned them from taking notes, The New York Times said.

His alleged misconduct has resulted in scores of investigations and inquiries by government ethics authorities ranging from the Government Accountability Office to the EPA’s own inspector general to the White House itself.

Pruitt came to the EPA a noted climate change skeptic.

As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt sued the agency he eventually came to lead for its efforts to regulate pollution. 

He filed 14 lawsuits against the EPA, which is charged with protecting America’s air and water, and questioned the ability to precisely measure the impact of human activity on climate change.

On his state website, Pruitt described himself as "a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda." In the Sooner State, he also fought against the Affordable Care Act, abortion rights and gay marriage.

Trump appointed him to lead the agency, and the Senate confirmed him in February 2017 with a 54-46 vote.

A Kentucky native, he attended the University of Tulsa law school. Before becoming the attorney general, he served eight years as an Oklahoma state senator.

Supporters for Pruitt’s nomination included conservative advocacy groups and Republicans who say the EPA’s regulatory overreach burdens industry. 

Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Source: New feed