EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Resigns After Months of Ethics Investigations

Lindsay Kimble
Updated

Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection agency, has resigned, President Donald Trump said in a tweet, Thursday.

“I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this,” the president said of the 50-year-old former Oklahoma attorney general.

Trump continued, writing through two tweets, “The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will… on Monday assume duties as the acting Administrator of the EPA. I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright!”

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Pruitt’s resignation comes after months of ethics controversies after the Senate confirmed him in February 2017.

Politicians — from both parties — as well as environmental groups raised questions about the climate skeptic’s spending and lavish travel practices along with his use of multiple email accounts and round-the-clock security detail.

During his 17 months in office, he faced several investigations into his first-class plane travel, a room that he rented from a lobbyist at $50 per night and the installation of a soundproof booth in his office.

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that Pruitt is currently the subject of at least 13 federal investigations. Though he resigned, the EPA inspector general will continue the review all of Pruitt’s investigations, according to CNN.

In June 2017, Pruitt was a key player in Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Accord, an agreement on climate change and environmental policy. (Every country in the world but Syria and Nicaragua signed the agreement.)

In addition, Pruitt enforced major changes of the Obama administration’s policies, most notably the Clean Power Plan, Clean Water Rule, automobile pollution standards and natural gas drillers.