Energy and Commerce Democratic leaders sent a letter to Chairman Greg Walden (D-OR) and Environment Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL) today requesting that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt be placed under oath for his testimony next week, and that the hearing be expanded to include the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
The letter was signed by Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Paul Tonko (D-NY) and full committee Vice Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL).
“Mr. Pruitt’s extraordinary lack of responsiveness to Congressional inquiries, legal violations resulting from EPA’s failure to notify Congress about his expenditures, and serious questions about the veracity of his statements regarding a number of these ethics issues make this request necessary," the Committee Democrats wrote to Chairmen Walden and Shimkus.
In their letter, the Democrats point to EPA’s shifting explanations for Administrator Pruitt’s first-class plane flights and constantly changing explanations for his security spending as two of the many examples of the Administrator providing less than straightforward answers to critical congressional inquiries.
“We, therefore, urge you to expand this hearing to include the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and, most importantly, take whatever steps are necessary to ensure Mr. Pruitt testifies under oath when he appears before this Committee next week," the Democrats continued.
Administrator Pruitt is currently under five separate independent federal investigations requested by Energy and Commerce Democrats, including for his misuse of taxpayer funds while leading EPA. Administrator Pruitt is expected to appear before the Energy and Commerce Committee on April 26 for a traditional annual hearing on the agency’s budget.
“We recognize that the stated purpose of this hearing is to perform oversight of the agency’s fiscal year 2019 budget, but since that time the ethics cloud surrounding Mr. Pruitt has adversely affected the Agency’s effectiveness," the Democrats continued in their letter. “Mr. Pruitt’s excessive and wasteful spending of taxpayer funds is well-documented and makes it impossible to discuss EPA’s budget in a vacuum."
