EPA Chief Scott Pruitt probably thought he was in a safe space when he sat down with Fox News’ Ed Henry for his first interview since new ethics violations surfaced. Pruitt may have been surprised though when Henry didn’t let him get away with dodging some pretty serious questions.
One of the issues Henry pressed Pruitt on were those large pay raises recently given to staff members, (who are reportedly also friends of Pruitt’s). After the Fox News interview, Henry said Pruitt had not taken responsibility, instead had thrown his staff under the bus.
Pruitt: “I did not know that they got the pay raises until yesterday.”
Henry: “One of your friends from Oklahoma got a pay raise that’s [equivalent to] the median income… Are you embarrassed?”
Pruitt: “It should not have happened and the officials that were involved in that process should not have done what they did.”
Then there’s the controversy surrounding Pruitt’s $50 a night apartment rental from someone closely connected to a “major lobbying firm.”
Henry: “Is draining the swamp renting an apartment from the wife of a Washington lobbyist?”
Pruitt: “I don’t think that that’s even remotely fair to ask that question.”
Henry wasn’t satisfied with that answer either, calling it a “sweetheart deal.” Check out the exchange here.
Meanwhile, Pruitt is raising eyebrows on another front today. It looks like he didn’t think he had enough power over certain bodies of water. According to The Hill normally local EPA experts in the field make final “recommendations — and often decisions — regarding necessary environmental protections in their region.” Apparently, Pruitt wanted the power all to himself. The Hill reports:
“Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has signed a directive giving himself more authority to determine environmental regulations for projects near regional waterways, according to a memo released Wednesday. The internal document obtained by the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) gives the EPA chief final decisionmaking authority over the protections of streams, ponds and wetlands.”
Will all this add up to Trump ousting Pruitt soon? The Daily Beast reports:
“As long as [Trump] feels Pruitt is effective and on his side, he’s probably fine,” one source close to the administration told The Daily Beast. But “if it starts looking like he’s sidestepping the president, that could be fatal.”