EPA Officials Demoted For Questioning Scott Pruitt

The New York Times reports:

At least five officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, four of them high-ranking, were reassigned or demoted, or requested new jobs in the past year after they raised concerns about the spending and management of the agency’s administrator, Scott Pruitt.

The concerns included unusually large spending on office furniture and first-class travel, as well as certain demands by Mr. Pruitt for security coverage, such as requests for a bulletproof vehicle and an expanded 20-person protective detail, according to people who worked for or with the E.P.A. and have direct knowledge of the situation.

Mr. Pruitt bristled when the officials — four career E.P.A. employees and one Trump administration political appointee — confronted him, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The political appointee, Kevin Chmielewski, was placed on administrative leave without pay, according to two of the people with knowledge of the situation.

CNN reports:

The lobbyist couple who leased a room to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have been cited for not having the required license to rent the room, the District of Columbia government said Thursday.

The property owners do not hold the business license required to rent the property, the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs said in a news release.

The notice of infraction “carries a potential fine of $2,034,” according to the release. Property records show the condo was bought by Vicki Hart, a health care lobbyist whose husband, Steven Hart, has lobbied the EPA.