President Trump gives embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt a thumbs up

Show Caption Hide Caption Pruitt pushes back on condo rental, pay raises EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is denying he knew about big raises given to two of his closest aides and insisting he did nothing wrong in renting a bargain-priced condo tied to an energy lobbyist. (April 5)

WASHINGTON — President Trump is giving Scott Pruitt a thumbs up as the embattled EPA Administrator fights to keep his job amid a growing chorus for his ouster over ethical lapses.

“I think he’s done a fantastic job. I think he’s done an incredible job. He’s been very courageous," the president told reporters Thursday afternoon on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from an event in West Virginia. "It hasn’t been easy, but I think he’s done a fantastic job.”

Speculation that Pruitt's job was in jeopardy has been rampant in recent days amid growing scrutiny of several ethical mishaps, including discounted accommodations in Washington he received from a lobbyist friend last year.

Pruitt paid $50 a night to rent a room on Capitol Hill in an apartment owned by health care lobbyist Vicki Hart, who is married to energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart. He used it beginning in February 2017 when he became EPA administrator and paid only on the nights he stayed until he moved out in July of that year.

EPA's senior ethics official, Kevin Minoli, recently reviewed the lease — months after he had vacated the apartment — and deemed that the arrangement did not violate agency rules. Nonetheless, the White House has launched its own investigation into the matter.

Asked Thursday whether he was bothered by the reports on Pruitt, Trump did not seem overly concerned.

"I have to look at them," he said. "I'll make that determination. But he’s a good man, he’s done a terrific

job. But I’ll take a look at it.”

If Pruitt survives and keeps his job, it will be largely because he’s ferociously spearheaded the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda for which business groups and energy interests have been clamoring.

In the 14 months he's been the nation's top environmental rulemaker, the former Oklahoma attorney general who sued the EPA more than a dozen times has rolled back the Clean Power Plan, delayed the Waters of the U.S. rule, and helped convince the president to back out of the Paris Accord on climate change, among a number of changes.

And Trump's vow to bring back coal, important in mining states like West Virginia where he just visited, have been buoyed by Pruitt's actions.

"You know, I just left coal and energy country," the president told reporters on Air Force One. "They feel very strongly about Scott Pruitt. And they love Scott Pruitt."

Still, the EPA administrator might not be out of the woods despite the president's praise.

Mounting scrutiny over his first-class flights, top aides getting huge pay raises after the White House rejected them, and the cozy rental arrangement he had with a lobbyist have sparked increasing calls for his dismissal among some Republicans, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as well as environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers.

Pruitt went on Fox News that day to defend his conduct, unapologetically calling his arrangement similar to an "Airbnb situation" where lodgers only pay for the nights they stay, and countering the criticism that renting from an energy lobbyist is a potential conflict. He blamed the "toxicity" of Washington for contributing to the firestorm and said the criticism is "about the mission we're engaged in here."

Pruitt and his allies including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claimed he was the target of a leftwing conspiracy to get rid of him because of his aggressive efforts to undo Obama-era rules.

But even the interview was apparently mishandled because Pruitt went on the air despite a report from the Washington Post that the White House asked him not to, displaying no contrition for his actions.