Trump And Kelly Phone Pruitt As Damaging Reports Pile Up

President Donald Trump and White House chief of staff John Kelly each phoned Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt over the last 24 hours amid a series of damaging reports that have raised the possibility that Pruitt could be fired.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Trump spoke with Pruitt Monday night and Kelly talked to him Tuesday morning. She declined to get into the substance of their conversations, but other reports said the message to Pruitt was that "we've got your back.”

The president also expressed muted support for the embattled agency chief during a meeting with foreign leaders on Tuesday. "I hope he's going to be great," Trump said of Pruitt, according to a press pool report.

In Trump’s White House, however, messages of support do not always carry much weight and can quickly be followed by an ouster, as was the case with former national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

A White House official told POLITICO on Tuesday that Pruitt’s future in the administration was uncertain, with the EPA chief facing mounting questions about his travel expenses, high security costs and the $50-a-night lodging he secured for several months last year in a lobbyist’s Capitol Hill condo. On Tuesday, the Atlantic reported that Pruitt went around the White House to secure raises for two of his staffers.

POLITICO reported Monday that Kelly has discussed the possibility of recommending that Trump fire Pruitt. But other White House officials cautioned that no decisions had been made.

Some in the White House still believe Pruitt, despite the spate of bad press, is one of the most effective members of Trump’s Cabinet in terms of policy. Pruitt announced on Tuesday plans to explore ways to relax vehicle emissions rules for model years 2022-2025.

And firing Pruitt could result in another messy confirmation battle for his successor. The Senate is already grappling with approving Trump’s nominees for secretary of state, the CIA and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But other White House officials have been annoyed by Pruitt’s alleged big ambitions, including reports that he is interested in replacing Jeff Sessions as attorney general and even in becoming president.

Although Pruitt still enjoys the support of the president and Kelly, his support among the White House staff is waning, according to two Republicans close to the White House.

Pruitt is perceived as “high maintenance” by staffers throughout the National Economic Council, communications shop, and Cabinet Affairs, said one of the Republicans — someone who has butted heads, annoyed, and exasperated people on several occasions.

NEC officials were irked by the large role Pruitt played in deciding the fate of the Paris climate change agreement — a fight he won by encouraging Trump to withdraw from the pact. Pruitt has also been eager to make huge announcements and publicize even minor moves out of the EPA — even if doing so at such an early stage could hurt the administration’s position if and when the issue gets challenged in court.

Several White House staffers have also been exasperated lately by having to read so many negative headlines about Pruitt — saying that air travel bills and the condo stories show a lack of common sense on his part, according to one former White House official.

“Were he not one of the president’s favorite Cabinet members and viewed as loyal and effective, he would be gone already,” the Republican added. “If the president starts to get shaky on him, things could move fast.”

Questions about Pruitt's status in the administration come amid a fresh round of negative headlines that threaten to deepen the ethics scandals around him.

According to a report published Tuesday by The Atlantic, Pruitt moved forward with substantial salary increases for two of his top aides despite the White House dismissing a request for the raises. Sarah Greenwalt and Millan Hupp, two of Pruitt's closest associates who migrated with him from Oklahoma to Washington, saw their salaries tick up from $107,435 to $164,200 and $86,460 to $114,590, respectively, after Pruitt used an agency loophole to raise their pay — after the White House denied the request.

Aides to the EPA administrator, whose costly travel habits have surfaced in a series of damaging reports, considered leasing a private jet on a month-to-month basis, according to a Washington Post report out Tuesday. The agency ultimately opted against the move, which officials estimated would have cost the agency roughly $100,000 a month.

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Source: Politico.com