CNN: EPA To Hire 12 More Security Agents For Chief Pruitt

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt looks back after speaking to the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - In this June 2, 2017 file photo, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt looks back after speaking to the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Top-ranking C... FILE - In this June 2, 2017 file photo, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt looks back after speaking to the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Top-ranking Congressional Democrats are calling on a federal watchdog to review whether Pruitt broke the law by making a video for a private group opposing an Obama-era clean-water rule. Pruitt flew to Colorado for an August event organized by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, an industry trade association representing cattle producers. While at the ranch, Pruitt recorded a video urging the group’s members to file comments supporting the repeal of EPA’s Waters of the United States rule. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of expanding its security fleet for Administrator Scott Pruitt with the hiring of an additional 12 officers, which moves the total number of agents guarding Pruitt to 30, CNN reported Monday.

The move will cost the department an additional $2 million a year, not including training, equipment or travel, according to CNN. No previous EPA chief has received this level of around-the-clock protection, the department’s inspector general told CNN, but Pruitt has reportedly received more death threats than any of his predecessors.

The IG office has investigated 70-plus threats against the EPA chief since he came into office.

“The EPA is a lightning rod. We get threats from both sides of the spectrum,” assistant inspector general Patrick Sullivan told CNN. “Some people believe the EPA is not doing enough to enforce environmental laws, and they’re upset about that. Other people think the EPA is doing too much, vis-à-vis enforcing environmental laws and they’re upset about that.”

Last month, The Washington Post reported that the EPA spent nearly $25,000 on building Pruitt a sound-proof “privacy booth” for secure phone calls.

Pruitt already had an unprecedented number of security officers before CNN learned of the new hires. The department reportedly had to pull officers who typically investigate environmental crimes to his security detail.

The latest security spending increase comes as the agency has announced plans to cut its budget by 30 percent. Like several other members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, Pruitt’s spending on travel has recently come under scrutiny as well because of his frequent trips back home to Oklahoma and his use of charter planes for official travel.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: