Two Republican members of Congress on Tuesday called for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation following a string of damaging scandals.
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) (above, left) — who, at least among his GOP colleagues, is an outspoken legislator on the dangers of climate change — tweeted that Pruitt’s “conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers.”
Major policy differences aside, @EPAScottPruitt‘s corruption scandals are an embarrassment to the Administration, and his conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers. It's time for him to resign or for @POTUS to dismiss him. https://t.co/gXWLDffqam
— Rep. Carlos Curbelo (@RepCurbelo) April 3, 2018
Curbelo was responding to a tweet from ABC News’ John Santucci listing a string of recent, damaging stories about Pruitt: his rental of a below-market-rate townhouse room from the wife of a powerful energy lobbyist; the EPA’s approval of a pipeline plan for a client of the energy lobbyists’s firm; and the same lobbyist’s bankrolling of Pruitt’s campaigns and political action committee, to name a few.
I think we're up to 4 Pruitt stories in last 30 minutes so let's review – WSJ = White House investigating / Times = business was conducted in favor landlord / Politico = Kelly talked about firing Pruitt / DailyBeast = landlords held fundraisers for GOPers at the same location
— John Santucci (@JTSantucci) April 3, 2018
Following Curbelo’s statement, Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) (above, right), who announced in April last year that she would not seek reelection, followed Curbelo’s statement with one of her own, to HuffPost.
“When scandals and distractions overtake a public servant’s ability to function effectively, another person should fill that role,” she told the website.