Updated at 5:24 p.m.
The Environmental Protection Agency has reassigned or demoted at least five officials, four of them high-ranking, after they reportedly raised concerns about EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s spending.
Concerns included unusually large spending for travel, added security, and a request for bulletproof vehicles and a soundproof booth.
The New York Times reported that Pruitt was enraged after four career EPA employees and one Trump administration political appointee confronted him.
Kevin Chmielewski, one political employee was placed on administrative leave without pay, two people with knowledge of the situation told the newspaper.
Two of the career officials, Reginald Allen and Eric Weese, were moved to jobs where they could not question his spending decisions. John Reeder was told to find another job, while John Martin, who was on Pruitt’s security detail, was taken off the team, with his gun and badge taken away.
Three EPA officials said Pruitt’s chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, also raised questions about the administrator’s spending, but remained in his position.
However, he is considering resigning from his post, EPA officials told the newspaper. Jackson joined Pruitt’s staff after working for Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the Senate’s top climate change skeptic.
Inhofe issued a statement of support for Pruitt, along with a number of other Republicans, on Thursday amid a flurry of media reports that he may have violated ethics rules by residing at condominium owned by a lobbyist friend.
A report from CBS on Thursday said he took a security guard off his detail after Pruitt was told they could not use a siren to cut through traffic in Washington.
