EPA Administrator Faces “Watershed” Moment

Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is approaching his two separate committee hearings in the House of Representatives with sagging support on the hill. Even his most dedicated backers are starting to express concerns about the controversies surrounding the administrator that have continued to swirl.

Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, perhaps his biggest ally in Congress, even says it’s “appropriate to have a hearing, insofar as any accusation having to do with his office is concerned.”

A CNBC report says, since the hearings were announced, revelations regarding a Washington apartment rental deal with a lobbyist have sparked allegations of ethics abuses and lavish spending. The government’s top watchdog determined just last week that the EPA broke the law by installing a $43,000 soundproof booth in Pruitt’s office. Pruitt will go before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment Thursday morning. He then will appear before the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies in the afternoon.

The CNBC report says an anonymous White House source says the administration may have told conservative lawmakers not to defend Pruitt too stridently.

From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.