Law Scott Pruitt resigns as Administrator of the EPA

The New York Times: Scott Pruitt, Trump's E.P.A. Chief, Resigns Under Cloud of Ethics Scandals

WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, President Trump’s embattled administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has resigned after facing months of allegations over legal and ethical violations.

Mr. Trump announced the resignation on Thursday in a tweet, saying

Mr. Pruitt had been hailed as a hero among conservatives for his zealous deregulation, but he could not overcome the stain of numerous ethics questions about his alleged spending abuses, first-class travel and cozy relationships with lobbyists.

Mr. Pruitt also came under fire for enlisting aides to obtain special favors for him and his family, such as reaching out to the chief executive of Chick-fil-A, Dan T. Cathy, with the intent of helping Mr. Pruitt’s wife, Marlyn, open franchise of the restaurant.

Mr. Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who built his career on lawsuits against the agency he would eventually lead, remained a favorite of Mr. Trump’s for the majority of his tenure at the E.P.A. He began the largest regulatory rollback in the agency’s history, undoing, delaying or blocking several Obama-era environmental rules. Among them was a suite of historic regulations aimed at mitigating global warming pollution from the United States’ vehicles and power plants.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

It would be easier to drain the swamp if Trump didn't bring so much swamp with him.

 

[Trombonista]

About fucking time!

Too bad he's probably gonna be replaced with another "climate change skeptic."

 

[TowinKarz]

I think he knew it was inevitable that Pruitt would go, but also knew that in the 10 months to a year it would take Pruitt would assuredly already have slashed a ton of regulations, so what if he leaves in disgrace?

Who says Trump doesn't play 4D chess?

 

[Zhoban]

This past week, in which it was very noticeably hotter than ever before, people like Donald "I Dunno Maybe" Trump and Scott "Ah Gee I Need More Evidence" Pruitt, sicken me. I live in one of the most humid parts of the country- an area known for its lush vegetation- and my rhubarb is barely making it. That's right; one of the most versatile and robust perennials can barely make it, even with getting a gallon of water daily.

Lawns that have always been green are yellow and drying up. But, jeez, it's either not real or it was going to happen anyways, so let's not worry about it. Goodbye and good luck not getting shanked without your pope-esque security detail, Pruitt. Go return to Oklahoma, where your fracking-induced quakes will keep you on edge.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

The EPA itself is one big ethical violation.

 

[Pickle Pirate]

About fucking time!

Too bad he's probably gonna be replaced with another "climate change skeptic."

Well Andrew Wheeler is going to take up the tiller Monday morning, at least for the interim. I don’t know what his stance on climate change is, though.

There’s been talk that Trump might have been considering ousting Sessions as AG and putting Pruitt in his place; ostensibly because Pruitt is no stranger to moral flexibility, it would get him out from under the EPA scandal umbrella, and (I believe, I could be wrong) as he’s already been confirmed by the Senate Trump could just plop him into the AG’s chair and wouldn’t have to fight an uphill battle with the Senate.

If that’s the case, and Pruitt is resigning, would that mean he’d have to go through the confirmation process again from the start to accept any position? Or does his confirmation stand regardless of his resignation?

 

[Zhoban]

Well Andrew Wheeler is going to take up the tiller Monday morning, at least for the interim. I don’t know what his stance on climate change is, though.

There’s been talk that Trump might have been considering ousting Sessions as AG and putting Pruitt in his place; ostensibly because Pruitt is no stranger to moral flexibility, it would get him out from under the EPA scandal umbrella, and (I believe, I could be wrong) as he’s already been confirmed by the Senate Trump could just plop him into the AG’s chair and wouldn’t have to fight an uphill battle with the Senate.

If that’s the case, and Pruitt is resigning, would that mean he’d have to go through the confirmation process again from the start to accept any position? Or does his confirmation stand regardless of his resignation?

He'd have to go through the whole process again, which he would not survive. He's now extremely unpopular with conservative legislators over the scandals.

 

[Leo Bonhart]

This past week, in which it was very noticeably hotter than ever before, people like Donald "I Dunno Maybe" Trump and Scott "Ah Gee I Need More Evidence" Pruitt, sicken me. I live in one of the most humid parts of the country- an area known for its lush vegetation- and my rhubarb is barely making it. That's right; one of the most versatile and robust perennials can barely make it, even with getting a gallon of water daily.

I bet illegal immigrants are peeing on your garden at night.

 

[thejackal]

Well Andrew Wheeler is going to take up the tiller Monday morning, at least for the interim. I don’t know what his stance on climate change is, though.

There’s been talk that Trump might have been considering ousting Sessions as AG and putting Pruitt in his place; ostensibly because Pruitt is no stranger to moral flexibility, it would get him out from under the EPA scandal umbrella, and (I believe, I could be wrong) as he’s already been confirmed by the Senate Trump could just plop him into the AG’s chair and wouldn’t have to fight an uphill battle with the Senate.

If that’s the case, and Pruitt is resigning, would that mean he’d have to go through the confirmation process again from the start to accept any position? Or does his confirmation stand regardless of his resignation?

He worked for Jim Inhofe, so I'll give ya one guess.

 

[IV 445]

A lot of ecoterrorists go after the EPA chief regardless of administration.

They believe the earth is literally killing itself and there needs to be action done nownownownownow.

Whip people up in a frenzy, reap the results

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

Shame he's corrupt, I loved the deregulation.

Him being a climate change "skeptic" doesn't matter at all because there's basically nothing realistically any party would or could do about it.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

Shame he's corrupt, I loved the deregulation.

Him being a climate change "skeptic" doesn't matter at all because there's basically nothing realistically any party would or could do about it.

I guess you could say that's an "Inconvenient Truth", couldn't you?

 

[sperginity]

I love that people are paying attention to this kind of shit now, these kinds of things happened all the time in previous administrations without much press.

 

[Joan Nyan]

I'd say "Sad!" if there was any chance he wouldn't be replaced by someone else who will deregulate just as much, but his replacement will probably be a lot like him but a little less wasteful of tax money, so no huge loss.

 

[Antipathy]

Pruitt was a slimy bastard and all his deregulations were useless to the economy. Regulations are needed to prevent sewage from running in the streets. I'm glad to see Pruitt go, but I wonder if Donald "the Chinese made up global Warming/I'm a Republican" Trump is going to place someone worse in his place.

 

[Zhoban]

I've been reading into the Deputy and now Acting Director, Andrew Wheeler, who apparently is a lobbyist and coal magnate. Now, there is no assurance Wheeler is going to be nominated by Trump, but after 1.5 years, it must be made clear that the EPA's upper management- formerly comprised of scientists- is now made up of fossil fuel tycoons. It's highly unlikely that July 6th will mark the happy ending people are making it out to be.

 

[Herbert Hoover]

Ironically the EPA is probably one of the more swamp-y parts of the new administration.

I've been reading into the Deputy and now Acting Director, Andrew Wheeler, who apparently is a lobbyist and coal magnate. Now, there is no assurance Wheeler is going to be nominated by Trump, but after 1.5 years, it must be made clear that the EPA's upper management- formerly comprised of scientists- is now made up of fossil fuel tycoons. It's highly unlikely that July 6th will mark the happy ending people are making it out to be.

I mean, I get that the EPA probably has too many regulations on it, but it would be better to not have people with direct ties to the fossil fuel industry at the helm

 

[Billy_Sama]

Good riddance, he can go back home along with all the millions of dollars from kickbacks.

 

[Zhoban]

Hydrogen power has shown potential, with what amounts to minor attempts in the research sector. Back in 2009, I recall reading about a bus in France powered by hydrogen and while I worked in D.C., it was on the Senate floor, for being the most plentiful element in the universe.