A Tampa Bay congresswoman is leading Capitol Hill Democrats in calling on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to resign.
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Tom Udall rounded up almost 170 members of Congress--including 39 senators--in introducing a resolution for Pruitt’s resignation. The resolution was brought out on Wednesday. This is the largest number of senators in American history to ever call on a Cabinet member to resign.
“The resolution comes in response to Pruitt’s repeated ethics violations, misuse of taxpayer dollars, and actions that fundamentally undermine the mission of the EPA – favoring big polluters at the expense of science, our environment, and the health of children and families,” Castor’s office noted.
Almost every Democrat in the U.S. Senate--including U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida--is cosponsoring Udall’s resolution. Florida Democrats U.S. Reps. Charlie Crist, Val Demings, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings, Al Lawson, Darren Soto, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Frederica Wilson are cosponsoring Castor’s resolution. U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy is the only Democrat in the Florida delegation not cosponsoring the resolution but her office informed Sunshine State News that she is fully in support of it and has asked to be added as a cosponsor.
“This historic resolution sends an unequivocal message to the administration: the American public has lost faith in Scott Pruitt, and it’s time for him to go,” Udall said. "During his time in office, Pruitt has waged all-out war on the bedrock protections that keep our air and water clean, prevent toxic chemicals from contaminating our communities, and safeguard the health of our kids and families. He has done lasting damage to public health and safety – gutting the EPA’s core mission – all to benefit his campaign donors and grease the wheels for his big polluter friends. And at the same time, Pruitt has completely violated the trust of the American people and the standards of his office, with a list of ethical transgressions that grows longer by the day. Pruitt is administrator of the EPA, but he’s behaving like the emperor of the swamp. His imperial tenure needs to end.”
“There is a slime problem at the EPA – and it is coming from the administrator’s office,” Castor said. “Scott Pruitt’s wasteful spending and conflicts of interest are serious, and his assault on clean water and air pose dangerous risks to the health of children, families and communities across America. Pruitt sides with special interests and political donors over the public interest. Pruitt’s numerous and costly ethical violations, and his failure to protect the public health and the environment demands action by the Congress now. We have no confidence in Administrator Pruitt and he should resign now. Administrator Pruitt, who is already subject to five investigations, has been using his publicly funded security detail on non-official businesses, including trips to Disneyland, Paris, Rome and the Rose Bowl. All the while, his lavish travel expenses and misuse of taxpayer money go unaccounted for -- the damage that has been done to our economic and environmental health has proven to be too costly. I see the damage from the Pruitt EPA in Florida where our economy is tied to healthy and clean environment: According to a recent report by Environment Florida, industrial facilities have dumped excessive pollution into Florida waterways so many times that Florida is now in the top 10 states with the most exceedances reported by major industrial facilities because far too often these polluters faced no fines or penalties.”
The Democrats slammed Pruitt for spending more than $40,000 for a phone booth and then misleading Congress about it; paying $50 a night for a condo owned by the wife of a lobbyist; high travel and security expenses; cutting EPA staff; and putting the needs businesses over scientific data.
