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Remember those surveys which showed that up to one third of federal workers were thinking of quitting their jobs as soon as Donald Trump was sworn in as the nation’s 45th president? More than a few of them were obviously workers at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where the media mournfully reported that workers were “coming to work in tears” over what was to become of their beloved agency. But for all of the angst and bluster showing up in the press we weren’t actually seeing many (if any) people making good on their promise. That is… until now. We’ve...

President Trump’s attempts to drain the swamp are being undermined by one of his key administrators. President Trump’s attempts to drain the swamp are being undermined by one of his key administrators. Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is more interested in building his political career than he is taking on the Green Blob, insiders report. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Pruitt is also said to be behind attempts to remove at least one of the key phrases from the president’s long-awaited Executive Order on the environment.It concerns a proposal to repeal the EPA’s Endangerment Finding on CO2 (the disastrous, unscientific, job-killing ruling...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that $2.5 million in Clean Air Act Targeted Airshed grant funds will be awarded to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to help improve air quality in southeastern Idaho's Cache Valley… to reduce air pollution caused by wood stoves, road dust and motor vehicles in the valley. said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “We’re pleased that Targeted Airshed grant funds will be available to help support the community's ability to take action on air quality issues and develop meaningful local solutions.”

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday reversed an Obama-era plan to collect massive amounts of data from oil-and-gas companies — information that ultimately would’ve been used as the basis for new federal regulations on methane. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the requests made by the prior administration constituted unnecessary burdens on the energy industry. His action also seems to signal that the EPA will not pursue any new methane regulations anytime in the foreseeable future.

© Screenshot Scott Pruitt was sworn into office late Friday as the 14th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito administered the oath of office to Pruitt, the former attorney general of Oklahoma, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House. President Trump and Vice President Pence, who have sworn in most of the previous Cabinet officials, are both out of town. The swearing-in ceremony came hours after the Senate voted 52-46 , mostly along party lines, to confirm Pruitt, capping off a frequently contentious nomination process. Pruitt now leads the...

In light of charges by a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist that agency researchers are manipulating data to support climate alarmism, Scott Pruitt -- President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency -- is right to call for open debate on the science. At stake are trillions of dollars, countless jobs, and, if the climate scare is justified, the fate of the global environment. The public needs to have confidence that this is not just a politically convenient crusade devoid of solid scientific support. Last week, former NOAA scientist Dr. John Bates publicly announced his concerns...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday criticized President Trump's nominee to lead the EPA for having "the nerve" to say the science behind climate change is still up for debate. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is expected to be confirmed Friday afternoon to lead the EPA, despite Warren's argument that he is a climate change denier who would dismantle the EPA's ability to mitigate the human activity that she said is warming up the plane

Hundreds of former Environmental Protection Agency officials have signed a letter in protest of Scott Pruitt’s nearing confirmation as EPA Administrator. The letter, put together by the nonprofit group Environmental Integrity Project, was signed by 773 former EPA staffers, including scientists, engineers and attorneys. The EIP sent the letter to the Senate, where members could confirm Pruitt as early as Friday, the organization said in a statement. “Pruitt, a close ally of the oil and gas industry, has made a career of suing EPA and attacking the idea of federal action to reduce pollution – while simultaneously failing to enforce...

Senate Democrats are planning an all-night talkathon Thursday over President Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Asked whether Democrats are planning to hold the floor all night, a spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Carper (Del.) — the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee — confirmed that "that's the plan." A spokesman for Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) directed questions to Carper's office but noted that Democrats aren't planning to yield back debate time. The late-night floor drama comes after senators voted to move forward with Scott Pruitt's nomination earlier Thursday in a 54-46 vote....

Senate Democrats on Thursday slammed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for not delaying a vote on President Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and some colleagues have repeatedly asked McConnell to delay the vote to confirm Scott Pruitt, currently Oklahoma’s attorney general, while Democrats and a liberal group wait for a public records requested more than two years ago. McConnell declined, Carper said, and the Senate voted 54-46 on Thursday — with all Republicans and two Democrats supporting — to move forward on Pruitt and line up a vote for Friday. “In my...

© Greg Nash Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) will vote against confirming President Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Collins is the only Senate Republican to come out against Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general who sued the EPA 14 times during former President Obama’s administration. “I have significant concerns that Mr. Pruitt has actively opposed and sued the EPA on numerous issues that are of great importance to the state of Maine, including mercury controls for coal-fired power plants and efforts to reduce cross-state air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” Collins told Maine Public Radio on...

Hundreds of former Environmental Protection Agency employees began protesting the nomination of President Trump's pick to lead the agency on Monday by urging the Republican leadership to vote against the nominee's confirmation. Nearly 450 former staff members sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday expressing deep reservations over approving the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt becoming EPA administrator. They said, if confirmed, Pruitt would shirk his duties to protect Americans' public health, which they said has not been the case with either a Democratic or Republican EPA administrator in the past. "The American...

Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, appears to have made a false statement under oath to the Senate. This was first reported Monday by Fusion's Daniel Rivero. Business Insider was later able to confirm the underlying facts of Rivero's article. Pruitt — the attorney general of Oklahoma known for 14 lawsuits designed to fight regulations and cleanup efforts by the agency he hopes to lead — made the apparent false statement when referring to an ongoing environmental lawsuit involving several poultry companies in Arkansas. Pruitt's predecessor, Drew Edmondson, brought the case against Tyson Foods,...

Yesterday, Democrats chose to boycott a committee vote to advance the nomination of Trump’s EPA nominee, Scott Pruitt. Today, Republicans responded by temporarily suspending the rules of the committee, which required that at least one Democrat be present, and advanced his nomination to the full Senate. From the New York Times: The 11-0 vote sends the nomination to the full Senate, where Mr. Pruitt is most likely to be approved next week…Republicans mocked the Democratic boycott.“Democrats are just wasting time by pulling this stunt,” said Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia. “Eighty percent of life is showing...

CNN)Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, has advanced to the Senate floor. Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee suspended committee rules following the Democrats' boycott of Pruitt's nomination, which began Wednesday.

Change in direction Now this is not coming from Scott Pruitt, the EPA director-designate, who hasn’t actually been confirmed yet - nor is there even a vote scheduled. Myron Ebell was thought at one point to have the inside track for EPA director because he was Trump’s transition chief on matters related to the EPA, and he either knows what’s going on or he’s going around talking like he does.

Out of all of President Trump’s cabinet nominees, Scott Pruitt has probably received more heat from the Left and the environmentalist movement than anybody else. From the moment the former Oklahoma attorney general’s name was floated, liberal doomsayers have been putting out warnings of an impending end to environmental protection laws. Based on the current tone of the mainstream media and the “resistance” movement, you would think the government was about to start mandating coal plants in national parks. As usual, the reality is not what they make it out to be. What Scott Pruitt will really be bringing to...

When likely EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt walks into his first day at the office, “He’ll have 16,000 employees working against him,” Sen. James Lankford told a large gathering of libertarian donors Saturday evening.“And I expect a flood of lawsuits over everything he does.”Pruitt, who has been nominated to lead the EPA by President Donald Trump, is the attorney general of Lankford’s state, Oklahoma. He has faced fierce opposition from the environmentalist left.Lankford, who chairs the Senate Oversight Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements, was joined on stage by Sens. Mike Lee and Pat Toomey. Their panel, moderated by Americans for Prosperity...

Editor's Note: Jeb Bush is the former governor of Florida and was a candidate for the GOP nomination for president in 2016. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. (CNN)When Scott Pruitt and I assembled a Restoring Federalism Task Force last year, he headlined the plan: "Putting Washington In Its Place." Those five words sum up exactly what the American people were clamoring for in this election: a dramatic shift of power out of a broken Washington and back into the hands of the people.I cannot think of a person more suited to lead the Environmental Protection Agency than...

(CNN)Any parent who has ever disciplined children knows that no matter how hard it might be, it's for their own good. The Environmental Protection Agency could use some discipline right about now. During the Obama administration, the EPA became a lawless organ of federal power, divorced from the Congressional statutes that were meant to constrain it. If it is to be reformed, it will need the steady hand of someone who understands just how thoroughly it has gone astray. Enter Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a man who has spent the last six years pushing back on the EPA's most...