Pelosi calls on Pruitt to resign

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to resign on Friday after a series of damaging reports were published about the EPA chief.

In a statement on her website, Pelosi called on Republicans in Congress to hold Pruitt and other Cabinet members accountable for perceived ethical violations in their respective agencies.

“EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s tenure has been a part of the Trump Administration’s culture of corruption, cronyism and incompetence. Pruitt must resign,” Pelosi said in the statement.

{mosads}

“Multiple members of Trump’s Cabinet are under federal investigation for graft, corruption and sticking taxpayers with the multi-million dollar bill for their extravagance and lavish lifestyles,” she added.

Pelosi’s statement comes after reports of Pruitt’s condo-rental agreement with the wife of an energy lobbyist and his spending on foreign travel. 

“Republicans in Congress need to end their complicity, and finally take action to hold Pruitt and this Administration accountable for their abuses,” Pelosi said.

It was also reported this week that Pruitt personally directed staffers to give raises to two top aides who followed Pruitt to the EPA from his previous position in Oklahoma. Pruitt previously told Fox News he “learned” about the raises after they’d been authorized.

The pay increases had already been rejected by the White House, but Pruitt used an obscure provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act, which lets the EPA chief hire up to 30 people without having White House or congressional approval, to reappoint the aides and raise their salaries by tens of thousands of dollars.

Pruitt has denied any wrongdoing, and the White House has maintained support for the embattled EPA chief despite the growing scandals. President Trump reiterated his support for Pruitt in comments to reporters on Thursday.