U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is set to face questions from lawmakers Thursday about allegations of ethics and spending missteps during his tenure.
Pruitt is going before two House of Representatives subcommittees for hearings about the agency’s budget, but lawmakers are expected to seek answers about his spending on first-class air travel, his security detail and a lease of a room in Washington.
The Government Accountability Office said earlier this month the EPA violated the law when it approved a $43,000 soundproof privacy booth for Pruitt’s use.
The agency has defended the spending as necessary for Pruitt to be safe from public threats and to carry out confidential work.
Some Republican members of Congress have joined a much larger group of Democrats in calling for investigations into Pruitt’s actions and for his ouster.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump administration officials are “evaluating these concerns and we expect the EPA administrator to answer for them.”
Pruitt is one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial appointments and has done what he said he would when Trump named him to oversee the country’s environmental regulations — dismantle many of the restrictive policies on the environmental practices of businesses imposed by the administration of former President Barack Obama.
Trump has on several occasions given Pruitt a vote of confidence, including in early April when he said he thinks Pruitt has “done a fantastic job.”
…