Updated at 10:10 p.m.
President Trump offered a ringing endorsement of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt in a tweet Saturday evening which acknowledged not just the multiple controversies facing his embattled Cabinet official, but also his accomplishments.
“While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK,” Trump said, adding, “Scott is doing a great job!”
While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK. Scott is doing a great job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2018
Going into the weekend, Pruitt’s security as head of the EPA had been in doubt due multiple reports that have called into question the former Oklahoma attorney general’s ethical standards and fitness for office. The controversies concern decisions he reportedly made about spending, housing and management style.
Pruitt reportedly met with Trump on Friday to make a case for why he should remain in office and touted his successes, including recent steps to weaken Obama-era vehicle fuel-efficiency standards.
One of the biggest controversies Pruitt faces concerns him reportedly renting a room in a Capitol Hill condo co-owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist for a rate of $50 for every night he slept there, which according to Politico has attracted the attention of the agency’s inspector general.
Separately, the Associated Press reported on Friday that Pruitt spent millions of taxpayer dollars on a 20-member security detail that is three times the size of his Obama-era predecessor, Gina McCarthy.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement sent to the Washington Examiner that Pruitt has faced an “unprecedented” number of death threats.“According to EPA’s Assistant Inspector General, Scott Pruitt has faced an unprecedented amount of death threats against him and his family. Americans should all agree that members of the President’s cabinet should be kept safe from these violent threats,” Wilcox said.
Amid calls from dozens of Democrats and few Republicans for Pruitt to resign, he has had a strong public supporter in Trump, who on Friday decried what he views as a media “siege” facing the EPA chief and said Pruitt is doing “a great job.”
A number of other Cabinet officials have left the Trump administration recent months amid their own controversies, including most recently Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin.
