Scott Pruitt

For the race car driver, see Scott Pruett.

Scott Pruitt
14th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
In office
February 17, 2017 – July 9, 2018
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyAndrew Wheeler
Preceded byGina McCarthy
Succeeded byAndrew Wheeler
17th Attorney General of Oklahoma
In office
January 10, 2011 – February 17, 2017
GovernorMary Fallin
Preceded byDrew Edmondson
Succeeded byMichael J. Hunter
Member of the Oklahoma Senate
In office
January 5, 1999 – January 2, 2007
Preceded byGerald Wright
Succeeded byBill Brown
Constituency54th district (1999–2003)
36th district (2003–2007)
Personal details
Born
Edward Scott Pruitt[1]

(1968-05-09) May 9, 1968 (age 56)
Danville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Marlyn Pruitt
​
(m. 1990)​
Children2
Education

Edward Scott Pruitt (born May 9, 1968) is an American attorney, lobbyist and Republican politician from the state of Oklahoma. He served as the 14th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from February 17, 2017, to July 9, 2018, during the Donald Trump presidency, resigning while under at least 14 federal investigations.[2] Pruitt denies the scientific consensus on climate change.[3]

Pruitt represented Tulsa and Wagoner counties in the Oklahoma Senate from 1998 until 2006. In 2010, Pruitt was elected Attorney General of Oklahoma. In that role, he opposed abortion, same-sex marriage, the Affordable Care Act, and environmental regulations as a self-described "leading advocate against the EPA's activist agenda."[4] He sued the EPA at least 14 times in the role. Pruitt was elected as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2012 and was re-elected for a second term in February 2013. He received major corporate and employee campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry, taking in at least $215,574 between 2010 and 2014 despite running unopposed in the latter year.

Pruitt was nominated to lead the EPA by President Donald Trump after the 2016 election, and was confirmed by the United States Senate in February 2017 in a 52–46 vote. By July 2018, Pruitt was under at least 14 separate federal investigations by the Government Accountability Office, the EPA inspector general, the White House Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, and two House committees over his spending habits, conflicts of interest, extreme secrecy, and management practices. Pruitt made frequent use of first-class travel as well as frequent charter and military flights.[5][6][7] He leased a condo in Washington, D.C., at a deeply discounted rate from a lobbyist whose clients were regulated by the EPA. Pruitt further caused ethics concerns by circumventing the White House and using a narrow provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act to autonomously give raises to his two closest aides of approximately $28,000 and $57,000 each, which were substantially higher than salaries paid to those in similar positions in the Obama administration, and which allowed both to avoid signing conflicts of interest pledges. Some conservatives joined a growing chorus suggesting that Pruitt should resign. On July 5, 2018, Pruitt announced he would resign from office on July 9, leaving Andrew R. Wheeler as the acting head of the agency.[2][8][9]

In April 2022, Pruitt filed to run for the United States Senate to represent Oklahoma in that state's special election to replace Senator Jim Inhofe, who retired.[10] He lost in the Republican primary, garnering 5% of the vote.

  1. ^ "Southern Seminary Catalog – Directory, 2013–2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference globe2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Jay Michaelson (December 29, 2017). "The Ten Worst Things Scott Pruitt's EPA Has Already Done". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  4. ^ "Brief biography of Attorney General Scott Pruitt". Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  5. ^ Juliet Eilperin; Brady Dennis (May 16, 2019). "EPA watchdog suggests agency recover $124,000 in Pruitt's 'excessive' travel expenses; Agency rejects the idea, calling 'cost recovery inappropriate' because officials had approved Pruitt's trips at the time". washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  6. ^ Laura Strickler; Adiel Kaplan (May 16, 2019). "Ex-EPA chief Scott Pruitt spent nearly $124,000 on 'excessive airfare,' agency says; The inspector general's report found there was not "sufficient justification to support security concerns requiring the use of first- and business-class travel."". nbcnews.com. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  7. ^ Gregory Wallace (May 16, 2019). "Scott Pruitt wasted nearly $124,000 on first- and business-class travel, EPA IG says". CNN. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  8. ^ Jeremy Diamond; Eli Watkins; Juana Summers. "EPA chief Scott Pruitt resigns amid ethics scandals". CNN. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  9. ^ "Scott Pruitt's full resignation letter to President Trump". Fox News. July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  10. ^ Murphy, Sean (April 15, 2022). "Ex-EPA head Scott Pruitt to run for US Senate in Oklahoma". Associated Press. Retrieved May 30, 2022.