Democratic lawmakers and career officials at the EPA are grasping at straws to understand why President Donald Trump is sticking by one of his most effective lieutenants. There is a virtual civil war happening inside the EPA as negative reports about agency head Scott Pruitt continue stacking up, agency insiders claim. Capitol Hill Democrats are also not sure how to proceed as Trump dismisses calls to fire the former Oklahoma attorney general. Democratic California Rep. Ted Lieu, for instance, evolved from calling Pruitt a “deeply paranoid” and “unethical” person who must be fired to advocating Trump’s decision might be a good thing for Democrats in the long run. “So now I’m thinking, please don’t fire @EPAScottPruitt,” Lieu wrote Saturday on Twitter shortly before the president reiterated his support for the beleaguered administrator. “He’s such a great symbol of the corruption and fraud, waste & abuse in your Administration.” More than 64 of his congressional colleagues disagree: they want him gone. “Scott Pruitt’s unethical behavior, wasteful use of taxpayer money, and his efforts to undermine the EPA’s core mission to protect our environmental and public health demand an appropriate response: his resignation or his firing,” a coalition of 64 Democratic representatives wrote in a letter Friday to the president...MORE
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