The resignation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt Thursday elicited cheers and pithy one-word statements from Democrats, who have been calling for Pruitt’s resignation for months as his ethics scandals have piled up.
During his short tenure, Pruitt drastically reshaped the EPA, shrinking its budget, rolling back Obama-era climate and environmental regulations, and giving outsize influence to industry over the agency’s agenda. Pruitt’s extensive list of potential ethical violations includes a $43,000 secure phone booth that the EPA purchased for his use, his travel spending, his housing and relationships with lobbyists, and his use of agency aides for personal business.
[Related: Ethics office wants new scandals added to Pruitt investigation]
Democrats took a victory lap Thursday. Those in the Senate who will have a vote on Trump’s next pick to lead the EPA, called for an administrator who believes in environmental protection.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. tweeted one word: “Good.” Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, wished Pruitt “good riddance,” and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the resignation “long overdue.”
“He exploited the agency and abused taxpayer dollars to fit his luxurious lifestyle — all while harming our environment,” Pelosi said in a tweet.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer chided Trump, saying the administration still has a lot to do to drain the swamp.
“Took you long enough,” Schumer tweeted. “Still a very long way to go to fully #DrainTheSwamp.”
Pruitt, who had the shortest run leading the agency of any EPA head, resigned Thursday, citing “unrelenting attacks” on him and his family as his reason for stepping down.
“Scott Pruitt was the worst EPA administrator in the history of the agency,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a statement. “Not only has he acted, time and time again, in an unethical manner, but he has led the agency in exactly the wrong direction. I will do everything possible to see that the next EPA administrator actually believes in environmental protection.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., called for a new administrator that would “restore an EPA that fights for clean air and clean water.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., issued one of the more colorful responses to the news of Pruitt’s ouster:
Scott Pruitt’s reign of venality is finally over. He made swamp creatures blush with his shameless excesses. All tolerated because Trump liked his zealotry. Shame.
— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) July 5, 2018
