Washington: Facing ever-growing scandals over the spending and behaviour of his environment agency chief, Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump appears close to firing the man he appointed to dismantle Barack Obama’s green legacy. The list of accusations levelled against the 50-year-old head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has grown almost too long to itemise in a single article. Pruitt has become the focus of multiple investigations in recent months, including by his own agency’s inspector general, two other independent federal agencies and by Congress itself.
All the charges share a common thread — that Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general reported to have close ties to fossil fuels industries, appears to have used the position he has held since February 2017 to enrich his own family’s lifestyle in violation of federal law and has punished subordinates who raised objections to his behaviour, or who failed to show sufficient loyalty to him. It all began with his penchant for first-class and private air travel while on official business, a bill footed by the taxpayers, in contravention of usual government practice. Then came the reports of the large number of bodyguards he kept around him 24 hours a day, doubling the cost of his predecessors’ security detail. He also ordered the installation of a secure telephone cabin in his Washington office at the cost of $43,000 (36,000 euros) which critics found excessive.
Then there was the question of his personal expenses. He rented an apartment linked to oil industry lobbyists in a pricey neighbourhood of the capital for a mere $50 a night, a sum he only paid for on nights he actually slept there. He also tasked members of his staff with personal assignments, including finding him another apartment, getting his tickets to sporting events and trying to help his wife find a job. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
