Just before his rally in Montana, President Trump tweeted that his Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned after months of ethics controversies.
The President addressed the resignation while speaking to reporters on his way to Montana — but he didn’t mention Pruitt or his controversies during the rally itself. Instead, Trump talked about his upcoming meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, next week’s NATO summit and how he’d like Sen. Elizabeth Warren to prove her heritage, among other topics.
On board Air Force One on his way to the rally, Trump said it was Pruitt’s decision to resign.
The House Oversight Committee will continue to investigate embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt despite his resignation, according to a committee source.
The committee’s probe is the most significant Republican-led investigation into the many scandals that arose during Pruitt’s time heading the EPA.
A separate Democratic source said: “Democrats will continue to investigate because we were just beginning to uncover the extent of these abuses.”
President Trump told reporters on Air Force One EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s decision to resign was “very much up to him.”
“He did not want to be a distraction,” Trump said. “And I think Scott felt like he was a distraction.”
Trump said there was “no final straw,” and said the decision had been in the works “a couple of days” and that they had been “talking about it for a little while.”
The President continued:
Trump said Pruitt will go on to do “great things and he’s going to have a wonderful life, I hope.”
Scott Pruitt was embroiled in one ethics controversy after the next.
And for months, President Trump defended his Environmental Protection Agency chief.
Amid the scandals, Trump repeatedly touted Pruitt’s work, and his character.
“I think he’s a fantastic person,” Trump said in April.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, said Scott Pruitt was the worst Environmental Protection Agency chief ever.
In an interview with CNN, Sanders said he was concerned about Pruitt’s views on climate change and the environment.
“I think this guy has done incalculable harm to environmental protection in this country,” Sanders told CNN. “And he has also ethically challenged.”
He said the EPA needs a leader who believes in climate change and will take steps to protect the environment.
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Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley released a statement today about Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation.
In his statement, Grassley of Iowa said Trump made the “right decision” in accepting Pruitt’s resignation.
He continued:
Several GOP strategists said Scott Pruitt’s resignation from the Environmental Protection Agency is a relief.
They said that President Trump’s new Supreme Court nominee is going to be a major focus — and one that is good for them — for the next few months. Trump is expected to announce his pick in the coming days. Dragging Pruitt through congressional inquiries would take away from that, they added.
The strategists said they believe the White House can manage a smooth confirmation process for the nominee, and said they are now focused on that goal.
Kristin Mink was having lunch with her son on Monday when she noticed Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt with a colleague at Teaism in Penn Quarter and decided to confront him, child in tow.
She then urged him to “resign before your scandals push you out.”
In a video of the encounter, Mink cites Pruitt’s “slashing strong fuel standards for cars and trucks for the benefits of big corporations” and his “paying about 50 bucks a night to stay in a DC condo that’s connected to an energy lobbying firm, while approving their dirty sands pipeline” as reasons for him to resign.
“We deserve to have somebody at the EPA who actually does protect our environment, somebody who believes in climate change and takes it seriously for the benefit of all of us, including our children,” Mink tells Pruitt in the video.
Today, Mink spoke to CNN about Pruitt’s resignation.
She said initially felt “unrestrained glee” by the news “because that was what I wanted him to do and followed immediately of course by the realization that Trump now gets to appoints somebody else. And we see that it’s Andrew Wheeler, a coal lobbyist. So clearly the agenda is not going to be getting any better.”
Scott Pruitt’s resignation came as a surprise to many top level employees at the EPA, according to a source familiar with the matter. Top level EPA officials had been preparing for meetings with Pruitt this week, not knowing he’d be resigning today, the source said.
Two other EPA officials said they had no idea Pruitt’s resignation was coming today. Like the rest of the country, they found out from Trump’s tweets, they said.
Another source, an agency employee, said many staff members and personnel found out from social media or friends. This employee said EPA staff have not received any correspondence or email resignation from Scott Pruitt announcing his departure.
An EPA official has provided CNN a copy of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation letter to President Trump.
In his letter, Pruitt said: “It is extremely difficult for me to cease serving you in this role first because I count it a blessing to be serving you in any capacity, but also, because of the transformative work that is occurring. However, the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us.”
Read Pruitt’s letter below:
“Mr. President, it has been an honor to serve you in the Cabinet as Administrator of the EPA. Truly, your confidence in me has blessed me personally and enabled me to advance your agenda beyond what anyone anticipated at the beginning of your Administration. Your courage, steadfastness and resolute commitment to get results for the American people, both with regard to improved environmental outcomes as well as historical regulatory reform, is in fact occurring at an unprecedented pace and I thank you for the opportunity to serve you and the American people in helping achieve those ends.
That is why it is hard for me to advise you I am stepping down as Administrator of the EPA effective as of July 6. It is extremely difficult for me to cease serving you in this role first because I count it a blessing to be serving you in any capacity, but also, because of the transformative work that is occurring. However, the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us.
My desire in service to you has always been to bless you as you make important decisions for the American people. I believe you are serving as President today because of God’s providence. I believe that same providence brought me into your service. I pray as I have served you that I have blessed you and enabled you to effectively lead the American people. Thank you again Mr. President for the honor of serving you and I wish you Godspeed in all that you put your hand to.
Your Faithful Friend,
Scott Pruitt
A spokesman for the EPA’s Office of Inspector General told CNN that ongoing or pending reviews of Scott Pruitt will continue, even though he has resigned.
What we know about the investigation
Both the EPA inspector general and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are reviewing an April 2017 meeting that Pruitt had with the National Mining Association regarding the Paris climate agreement, which critics said may have violated anti-lobbying laws
President Trump announced today that he accepted Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation.
EPA deputy Andrew Wheeler will place take over for Pruitt on Monday, Trump said.
Here’s what we know about Wheeler:
Environmental Protection Agency officials are reeling from the news that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has resigned — something many inside the EPA had begun to believe might never happen.
Pruitt had lost the confidence of much of the EPA’s career and political appointees, but many of those eager to see him resign had begun to lose hope that he would resign or be pushed out by the President.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, a senior Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, put out this strongly worded statement on Scott Pruitt’s resignation:
Scott Pruitt faced a steady stream of negative headlines in recent weeks and months. Here’s a look at some of the controversies:
President Donald Trump said he has accepted the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Pruitt’s resignation follows months during which he has been embroiled in one ethics controversy after the next.
Trump tweeted the news about Pruitt’s resignation:
Some background: Questions over Pruitt’s spending have been especially frequent: Documents showed showed the EPA spent more than $30,000 on security for Pruitt’s 2017 trip to Italy and $14,000 on charter flights around Oklahoma that summer. A report from The Washington Post in March outlined further travel expenses from Pruitt, totaling about $68,000 and including a nearly $20,000, four-day trip to Morocco and a series of first class flights.
Pruitt also reportedly lived for about six months in a Capitol Hill condo owned by a health care lobbyist whose husband has lobbied the EPA and payed below the market rate.
His chief of staff signed on his behalf approving large raises for two of his close aides, and sources say Multiple senior EPA officials were demoted after they raised concerns about Pruitt’s spending.
