Things are looking increasingly bleak for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt as White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley washed his hands of Pruitt’s fate in an interview on Fox News Thursday morning.
“I can’t speak to the future of Scott Pruitt,” he said to Fox News’ Sandra Smith. “The White House is aware of these reports and we’re looking into those.”
‘We don’t have any announcements to make in regards to staffing right now,” he added.
Later, Gidley ducked further Pruitt questions from pool reporters traveling with the President to West Virginia, staying clear of any definite predictions. “You can’t speak to several months or several weeks,” he said, according to a White House pool report. “If the President has confidence in somebody, they stay.”
He would not specify which of Pruitt’s activities the White House is investigating, saying only: “We see what you guys see. We read what you guys report.”
Earlier on Thursday, a reporter asked Trump while he boarded Air Force One if he still has confidence in Pruitt. He responded, “I do.”
Pruitt has been mired in negative press lately for his use of a cheap Capitol Hill apartment linked to a prominent energy lobbyist and taxpayer-funded first class flights while off the job. He also reportedly went around Congress and the White House to give generous pay raises to a couple of EPA staffers.
Watch part of the interview below:
