WASHINGTON \u2014 The Republican chairman of the Senate Environment Committee voiced support Monday for Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, even as other Republicans expressed concern about Pruitt\u2019s ethics and spending on security and travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming said Pruitt has accomplished key priorities as EPA head, mainly in reversing \u201cpunishing regulations\u201d imposed under President Barack Obama. Barrasso said he saw the positive impact of Pruitt\u2019s actions late last month as he and Pruitt toured a Wyoming coal mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barrasso acknowledged that \u201ccertain questions have been raised about internal operations\u201d at EPA and Pruitt\u2019s actions, but said he will wait for a White House review before reaching a judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three Republican senators criticized Pruitt on Sunday amid expanded ethics investigations of his spending and possible perks he\u2019s received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., called Pruitt\u2019s behavior stupid and \u201cjuvenile\u201d and urged him to \u201cstop acting like a chucklehead, stop the unforced errors, stop leading with your chin. If you don\u2019t need to fly first class, don\u2019t. Don\u2019t turn on the siren on your SUV just to watch people move over. You represent the president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEthics matter. Impropriety matters. The appearance of impropriety matters,\u201d Kennedy told CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation,\u201d adding that Pruitt\u2019s actions were \u201cdistracting from the business that we\u2019re trying to do for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republican-led House Oversight committee confirmed Monday it has expanded its review of Pruitt\u2019s travel spending to address questions surrounding his bargain $50-a-night rental of a Capitol Hill condominium tied to a fossil fuels lobbyist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Office of Government Ethics also has issued a letter to EPA demanding documents related to the condo rental. And it reports that at least five agency officials faced retaliation after questioning Pruitt\u2019s outsized spending for travel, unprecedented security precautions and pricey office furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Donald Trump defended Pruitt in a tweet over the weekend, saying the EPA chief is \u201cdoing a great job\u201d and downplaying the ethical questions. Trump called Pruitt\u2019s security spending \u201csomewhat more\u201d than Pruitt\u2019s predecessor and said Pruitt had received death threats \u201cbecause of his bold actions at EPA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Associated Press reported Friday that the 20-member team tasked with providing day-and-night protection for Pruitt had racked up salary, overtime and travel expenses approaching $3 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, said Pruitt has \u201cdone a good job, but I\u2019m looking to see what the oversight committee is going to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graham called the $50-a-night condo rental troubling, adding that most people could not get a room for $50 a night in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe bottom line, this doesn\u2019t look good,\u201d Graham said on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called Pruitt \u201cthe wrong person to head the EPA\u201d and said, \u201cThis daily drip of accusations of excessive spending and ethical violations serve to further distract the agency from accomplishing its very important mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins, the lone Republican to vote against Pruitt\u2019s confirmation last year, spoke on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon called on Pruitt to resign, while Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., requested a watchdog investigation of salary increases given to two top Pruitt aides. The EPA\u2019s inspector general has opened an audit into whether Pruitt improperly used authority granted under the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide the raises to two of his closest aides. Pruitt denied knowing about the raises in a media interview last week, even though the statutory authority under which the raises were granted requires his approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duckworth asked the Government Accountability Office to \u201cbring clarity and understanding to these potential violations of federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merkley said Monday that Pruitt \u201cplays fast and loose with propriety\u201d in serving the oil and gas industry and said, \u201cthe flood of revelations in the last few weeks makes clear that he is consumed by self-aggrandizement and that he is abusing his position in order to serve himself, not the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Pruitt won\u2019t resign, Trump should fire him immediately, Merkley said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Republican-led House Oversight committee confirmed Monday it has expanded its review of Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt\u2019s travel spending to address questions surrounding his rental of a Capitol Hill condominium tied to a fossil fuels lobbyist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":53194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5395],"class_list":["post-16877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UO4NISTGTBCMDI3GAZJADCPXOM","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/leadership\/2018\/04\/09\/gop-senate-chairman-backs-pruitt-as-ethics-probes-expand\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n