EPA/SCOTT PRUITT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is under increased White House scrutiny over his housing and travel arrangements as some of his own senior staff are expressing growing frustration with the public criticism of their boss, according to four people, including an E.P.A. official, who have spoken with the staff members. Mr. Pruitt has emerged as one of President Trump’s top lieutenants as well as a conservative hero for his aggressiveness in loosening or undoing dozens of environmental regulations while weakening many of the agency’s clean-air and water-enforcement programs. But the series of ethical questions is threatening both his good standing with the president and driving away some senior staffers.”
-Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman, “Pressure Mounts on Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, as Top Advisers Eye the Exit,” The New York Times online, April 5, 2018