House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats are pressing the Republican leadership to force Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt to testify under oath when he comes before the panel next week.
“Mr. Pruitt’s extraordinary lack of responsiveness to congressional inquiries, legal violations resulting from EPA’s failure to notify Congress about his expenditures, and serious questions about the veracity of his statements regarding a number of these ethics issues make this request necessary,” the committee’s top Democrats said in a letter sent Thursday to committee Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon, and the chairman of the environmental subcommittee , Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.
Pruitt is under five independent federal investigations requested by the committee’s Democrats, including for his misuse of taxpayer funds while leading EPA.
The letter was sent as the EPA inspector general on Thursday announced a new probe of Pruitt’s use of taxpayer-funded security detail for family trips to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl.
Pruitt is slated to testify before the Energy and Commerce Committee on April 26 for an annual hearing on the agency’s budget, but the Democrats want it expanded to include the misuse of federal funds and Pruitt’s unwillingness to respond to Congress.
“We, therefore, urge you to expand this hearing to include the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and, most importantly, take whatever steps are necessary to ensure Mr. Pruitt testifies under oath when he appears before this committee next week,” the Democrats wrote.
“Mr. Pruitt’s excessive and wasteful spending of taxpayer funds is well-documented and makes it impossible to discuss EPA’s budget in a vacuum,” the letter added.
“We recognize that the stated purpose of this hearing is to perform oversight of the agency’s fiscal year 2019 budget, but since that time the ethics cloud surrounding Mr. Pruitt has adversely affected the agency’s effectiveness,” the Democrats said.
Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., the top Democrats on the full energy committee and its environmental panel, respectively, led the letter.
Environmental groups applauded the letter.
“It’s about time Congress insisted Scott Pruitt raise his hand and testify under oath,” said Environment Working Group President Ken Cook. “So far, he’s just given them the finger.”
