Trump EPA chief Scott Pruitt resigns as ethical scandals mount
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned, President Donald Trump announced, after a tenure marked by allegations of misconduct.
Trump EPA chief Scott Pruitt resigns as ethical scandals mount Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned, President Donald Trump announced, after a tenure marked by allegations of misconduct. Check out this story on thespectrum.com: https://usat.ly/2IVtKsv
Ledyard King and David Jackson, USA TODAY Published 1:53 p.m. MT July 5, 2018 | Updated 6:51 p.m. MT July 5, 2018
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt talks with local media following a press conference after taking a tour of the Black Thunder coal mine outside of Wright, Wyo., Thursday, Mar. 29, 2018.(Photo: Josh Galemor, The Casper Star-Tribune via APAP)
WASHINGTON – Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned Thursday, ending a tenure marked by allegations of misconduct that led to repeated calls for his ouster.
Pruitt, a former Oklahoma state attorney general, was accused of spending extravagantly on travel and security, asking aides to run personal errands and accepting favorable terms for the rental of a condo owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist.
A government watchdog agency concluded this year that the installation of a $43,000 soundproof telephone booth for Pruitt violated congressional appropriations law.
Pruitt worked aggressively to roll back environmental regulations that President Donald Trump and his allies viewed as burdensome to businesses. That won him praise from the president, who stood by his embattled EPA chief for months.
"Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this," Trump wrote on Twitter as he announced Pruitt's resignation.
Trump said Pruitt's deputy, Andrew Wheeler, would replace him.
During Pruitt's 14 months at the EPA, he began rolling back the Clean Power Plan targeting carbon emissions from energy plants and delayed implementation of the Waters of the U.S. rule aimed at improving water quality.
He announced the agency would undo the Obama administration's reduction in auto emissions for cars and light trucks set in motion in 2012 as part of a campaign to reduce greenhouse gas levels that contribute to climate change.
In his resignation letter, Pruitt effusively praised Trump, saying he considered it "a blessing to be serving you in any capacity." Pruitt said the "unrelenting attacks" took a toll on him and his family.
Democrats hailed Pruitt's departure but expressed concern about environmental stewardship under a Trump administration.
"Took you long enough," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted. "Still a very long way to go to fully #DrainTheSwamp."
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., the ranking member on the House Energy Commerce Committee, said Pruitt's resignation was "long overdue."
"He repeatedly violated the law, abused his position to enrich himself and wasted taxpayer money," Pallone said. "Pruitt created a culture of corruption at EPA that has never been seen before in a federal agency, and for months, President Trump idly stood by and allowed him to do further harm."
Pruitt and his allies, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claimed he was the target of a left-wing conspiracy because of his efforts to dismantle Obama-era rules.
In a follow-up tweet after Pruitt resigned, Trump said his new environmental administrator, Wheeler, "will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda."
I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this. The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2018
Later, while traveling to Montana, Trump said there was "no final straw" for Pruitt, and the resignation was "very much up to him."
"I think Scott felt that he was a distraction," Trump said.
The president's endorsement didn't stop some Republicans in Congress from joining the Pruitt-must-go chorus of about 170 Democrats. He faces more than a dozen federal investigations examining his conduct and ethics.
Pruitt's departure sets up a potentially bruising confirmation battle in the Senate with whomever Trump nominates as the next EPA administrator.
Long list of ethical concerns
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who is unhappy with Pruitt's moves to reduce ethanol consumption that is economically important to Midwestern states, said the EPA administrator was "as swampy as you can get."
Among the ethical challenges and criticisms:
•Aides running errands: A top assistant to Pruitt conducted personal errands for her boss last year, including booking personal flights, hunting for homes and inquiring about the availability of a used mattress from Trump International Hotel.
The errands performed by aide Millan Hupp were revealed as part of testimony she provided in May to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
•Huge raises for aides: As scrutiny mounted over his first-class flights, top aides received huge pay raises after the White House rejected them.
Pruitt paid $50 a night to rent a room on Capitol Hill in an apartment owned by health care lobbyist Vicki Hart, who is married to energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart. He used it beginning in February 2017 when he became EPA administrator and paid only on the nights he stayed until he moved out in July of that year.
The EPA's senior ethics official, Kevin Minoli, reviewed the lease – months after he had vacated the apartment – and deemed that the arrangement did not violate agency rules. That was not enough for the White House, which launched its own investigation.
Pruitt went on Fox News to defend the arrangement, which he said was similar to an "Airbnb situation" in which lodgers pay only for the nights they stay, and countering the criticism that renting from an energy lobbyist was a potential conflict.
•Alleged request to fire Sessions: CNN reported that Pruitt asked the president to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appoint him to run the Justice Department, according to a report by CNN.
He made the request during an Oval Office meeting with Trump in spring, CNN reported, citing three anonymous sources. Advisers shot down the idea, but Trump has floated the option as recently as April.
•Secret calendar: A former staffer said Pruitt's office scrubbed meetings from his official calendar.
Kevin Chmielewski, Pruitt's former deputy chief of staff for operations, told CNN that Pruitt kept secret calendars and schedules that included meetings with executives and one in 2017 with Cardinal George Pell, who later was charged with sexual assault.
"We had at one point three different schedules. One of them was one that no one else saw except three or four of us," Chmielewski told CNN.
Deleting records and hiding official documents could be a violation of federal laws.
Pruitt faced increasing public criticism and ethics reviews as expenses over security measures, first-class flights and a sound-proof communication system came to light.
The Atlantic reported the EPA chief bypassed the White House to give large raises to favored aides who had come with him from Oklahoma, where he was attorney general.
Despite the drumbeat of unfavorable publicity concerning Pruitt's personal conduct, Trump appreciated the job the EPA did taking apart environmental regulations. During a speech March 29 in Ohio to tout his infrastructure initiative, the president praised the agency for moving to speed up environmental reviews of large projects.
"We've really streamlined the system, where we have really made it possible for people to get things done," Trump told a crowd of union laborers in Richfield, Ohio. "So many projects are under construction right now that would never, ever in a million years have gotten built."
Picked to reshape EPA
When Trump picked Pruitt, he wanted someone who would not only dismantle Obama-era environmental initiatives but reshape the culture of an agency hard-line Republicans have long slammed as a political instrument to carry out a leftist agenda that impedes economic growth.
As Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt sued the agency 14 times on behalf of the state, challenging a variety of regulations and billing himself as "a leading activist against EPA's activist agenda."
A month after he took the helm in February 2017, the budget released by Trump, an ardent EPA critic himself, proposed gutting the $8.2 billion agency by nearly a third. Congress restored most of the cuts.
Pruitt was opposed loudly by hundreds of former EPA employees and more quietly by some current ones. They feared he would assist the petrochemical industry he grew close to in Oklahoma while ignoring the science that served as the foundation of many public health protections.
Subsequent cuts in enforcement of pollution limits and the departure of hundreds of veteran EPA staffers through a buyout program gave environmental groups more reason to worry.
The agency did away with the "sue-and-settle" approach that Pruitt said improperly allowed the Obama administration to circumvent laws by rewriting regulations behind closed doors with friendly environmental groups who filed lawsuits.
The agency rewrote membership rules for the agency's advisory boards, so industry advocates and academics from Midwestern and mountain states – which Pruitt said were underrepresented – have greater influence when counseling agency leaders on new rules.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt under fire
A television displays the news of Scott Pruitt's resignation as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the floor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange, on July 5, 2018, in New York. BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt attends the Independence Day picnic for military families on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Scott Pruitt, center, is seen with his wife Marlyn and son Cade Pruitt a picnic for military families at the White House, Wednesday. YURI GRIPAS/POOL/EPA-EFE
Scott Pruitt listens to President Donald Trump speak to the media before meeting with members of his administration in the Cabinet Room of the White House. JIM LO SCALZO, EPA-EFE
Scott Pruitt, left, listens to a participant at a forum during a visit to a farm near Reliance, S.D. Farmers and ethanol producers gave Pruitt a rough reception in South Dakota, accusing him of undermining the industry that's a key part of the state's economy. ELLEN BARDASH/AP
Activists opposed to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt appeal to Capitol Hill workers emerging from the subway in Washington, on June 7, 2018. The protesters, from the "Boot Pruitt" campaign, mocked the controversial member of the Trump Cabinet for allegedly trying to get a Chick-fil-A franchise for his wife. Applewhite, AP
Protestors rally against EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in New York, on June 6, 2018. Pruitt is under fire after emails showed he asked an EPA staff member to contact Chick-fil-A for potential business opportunities for his wife. Federal ethics rules prohibit government employees from using their positions for private gain and prohibit supervisors from directing subordinates to carry out personal errands. It was also disclosed that Pruitt asked an aide to inquire with the Trump International Hotel about purchasing a used mattress. Drew Angerer, Getty Images
The EPA's Scott Pruitt answers reporters' questions during a briefing at the White House. Pruitt faced a barrage of questions related to President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
President Donald Trump shakes hands with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt after announcing his decision for the United States to pull out of the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House, June 1, 2017. WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES
Scott Pruitt winks to lawmakers while testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Environment Subcommittee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The focus of nearly a dozen federal inquiries into his travel expenses, security practices and other issues, Pruitt testified about his agency's FY2019 budget proposal. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
Administrator Scott Pruitt enters the hearing room prior to his testimony before the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing on the 2019 Fiscal Year EPA budget at the Capitol. ALEX EDELMAN/GETTY IMAGES
Members of the audience hold up signs that read "Fire Him" as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, center, testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 16, 2018. Pruitt faced tough questioning Wednesday from senators about ethics investigations involving his travel spending, security precautions and large raises for young aides. ANDREW HARNIK/AP
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the proposed budget estimates and justification for FY2019 for the Environmental Protection Agency on Capitol Hill in Washington May 26, 2018. TASOS KATOPODIS, EPA-EFE
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, listens to a question during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2018 in Washington. MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES
Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) chief Scott Pruitt(C) testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee after ethics scandals on April 26, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington,DC. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt (L) is seen after France's President Emmanuel Macron addressed a joint meeting of Congress inside the House chamber on April 25, 2018, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A sign criticizing Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is seen posted on the base of a utility pole on the corner of H Street NW and 13 Street NW in Washington, Friday, April 6, 2018. Pruitt is currently embroiled in controversy related to an apartment he rented from a Capitol Hill lobbyist for $50 a night, personnel issues at the EPA, and accusations of wasting taxpayer money. CAROLYN KASTER/AP
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks at a news conference at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington on April 3, 2018, on his decision to scrap Obama administration fuel standards. Andrew Harnik, AP
Protesters with Environment America stand outside the Environmental Protection Agency as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt holds a news conference on his decision to scrap Obama administration fuel standards, in Washington on April 3, 2018. Andrew Harnik, AP
This March 30, 2018 photo shows the Capitol Hill building that houses the condo that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt rented periodically during 2017 from the wife of an energy lobbyist at the below-market rate of $50 per night. Andrew Harnik, AP
Light is projected by the League of Conservation Voters as part of the new Boot Pruitt campaign onto the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the location of the Environmental Protection Agency on March 28, 2018, in Washington. The images describe EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's wasteful spending on luxury travel, ongoing investigations while in office, and dangerous policies that have imperiled public health. Alex Brandon, AP
In this April 19, 2017, file photo, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks at a news conference with Pasquale "Nino" Perrotta, second from left, in East Chicago, Ind. Perrotta, the security chief for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency worked on the side as a private investigator for the owner of a tabloid news company with close ties to President Donald Trump. TERESA CRAWFORD/AP
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, left, greets Chairman Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., right, before the start of a hearing before the Senate Environment Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 30, 2018. Also on the committee is Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, center. Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, left, and Sens. John Barrasso and Mike Enzi enter the training room of the Black Thunder coal mine outside of Wright, Wyo., for a press conference with local media on Mar. 29, 2018. The Casper Star-Tribune via AP
In this June 1, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump shakes hands with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt after speaking about the U.S. role in the Paris climate change accord in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Trump and his cabinet often avoid talking about the science of climate change, but when pressed what they have said clashes with established mainstream science, data and peer-reviewed studies and reports. Andrew Harnik, AP
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, left, shakes hands with coal miners during a visit to Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company's Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pa. on April 13, 2017. Gene J. Puskar, AP
Scott Pruitt, nominee for Administrator of the EPA, during confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Jan. 18, 2017 in Washington. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY NETWORK
Joann Spotted Bear from Wounded Knee, South Dakota and coal miners from Ohio and West Virginia arrives with large crowds before the Scott Pruitt, nominee for Administrator of the EPA, during confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Jan 18, 2017 in Washington. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY NETWORK
Scott Pruitt, nominee for Administrator of the EPA, during confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Jan 18, 2017 in Washington. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY NETWORK
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt arrives at Trump Tower on December 7, 2016 in New York City. Potential members of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet have been meeting with him and his transition team of the last few weeks. Spencer Platt, Getty Images
Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt speaks to opponents of the Affordable Care Act outside of the Supreme Court on March 4, 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on King vs. Burwell. The King vs. Burwell case will decide whether the language of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allows consumers to receive premium subsidies in states that have not established their own exchanges and instead are relying on HealthCare.gov. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY NETWORK
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