Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Wednesday that he was excited to open a Chick-fil-A franchise with his wife.
“My wife is an entrepreneur herself … Chick-fil-A is a franchise of faith and one of the best in the country,” Pruitt told Nextstar news service’s Jessica Smith.
Internal emails show that Pruitt assigned an EPA scheduler to arrange a talk with the president of the fast-food company to discuss his wife becoming a franchise owner.
The Washington Post reported that in doing so he likely broke the Hatch Act, which prohibits Cabinet-level officials from using federal staff for duties other than running the agency.
He said he and his wife were “very excited” about the prospect of becoming owners.
Pruitt said a lot of the criticism of his travel and security spending is because of the great changes the Trump administration is making.
[Previous coverage: A quick catalog of all the worst Scott Pruitt scandals]
“With great change comes opposition,” Pruitt said in the interview.
Earlier Wednesday, President Trump reiterated his confidence in the EPA chief while at a Cabinet meeting at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“EPA is doing really, really well,” Trump said. “Somebody has to say that. You know that, Scott.”
