Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Paul Tonko (D-NY) released the following joint statement today in response to a letter the members received from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirming Administrator Scott Pruitt’s security detail has flown with him in first class at taxpayer expense.
“As part of our ongoing review of Administrator Pruitt’s waste of taxpayer money for luxury travel, EPA confirmed to us today that Pruitt’s security detail has accompanied him in first class on some of his travel," Pallone, DeGette, and Tonko said. “In recent days we’ve learned Administrator Pruitt has reportedly spent more than $105,000 on first class travel since last May, including some domestic flights, but it’s unclear whether that figure includes the cost of his aides or security detail’s travel. What is clear is that while he makes extreme cuts to critical public health and environmental protection programs, the Administrator has taken a holiday from all fiscal responsibility when it comes to his own travel and personal convenience.
“When Mr. Pruitt appears before the Energy and Commerce Committee next month, he must be prepared to explain why U.S. taxpayers should foot the bill for his lavish travel habits."
In the letter to the Energy and Commerce Democrats, EPA Associate Administrator Troy M. Lyons wrote, “On past trips, [Pruitt’s] protective service detail accompanied him in first class." EPA’s letter came in response to a letter the Committee Democrats sent to EPA last month demanding answers on outrageous reports of Pruitt’s luxury travel at taxpayer expense.
