Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) tore into embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Tuesday and called out Donald Trump for not doing enough to drain the swamp within his own cabinet.
Speaking to attendees of the Platts Energy Podium in Washington, Ernst said of Pruitt:
“He is about as swampy as you get here in Washington, D.C. and if the President wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own cabinet."
Ernst also criticized Pruitt's handling of President Donald Trump's promise to support ethanol production in her home state of Iowa.
“Mr. Pruitt is breaking our president’s promises to farmers,” Ernst said. And offered this suggestion to Pruitt:
"it’s time for you to go, but that is up to the president.”
Ernst added that “going against the campaign promises that are made" isn't sustainable, and that she doesn't "know how long that relationship can last.”
This comes on the same day as a whole new revelation about Pruitt's swampy behavior:
Ernst's remarks are a reminder that despite his campaign promises to "drain the swamp" and "hire the best people," Trump's presidency has been plagued by ethics scandals, resulting in the firing or resignations of dozens of cabinet members and other high-ranking officials within the Executive Branch.
Pruitt is the subject of at least ten federal investigations into this tenure at the EPA.
In April, former EPA Deputy Chief of Staff and former Trump aide Kevin Chmielewski told five congressional Democrats who are currently investigating previous accusations of Pruitt’s abuses of power that Pruitt instructed staffers to make travel arrangements that would allow him to accumulate more frequent flier miles, in addition to staying in expensive hotels and flying on airlines that are not on the government’s approved list.
Chmielewski as fired after he blew the whistle on Pruitt’s spending habits, also told lawmakers that Pruitt made the demands for personal travel to his home state of Oklahoma.
In addition to his nefarious use of taxpayer money, Pruitt has come under fire amidst reports that he rented a condo owned by Vicki Hart, the health care lobbyist wife of J. Steven Hart, an energy lobbyist, for $50 per night.
That same month, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called on Pruitt to resign, citing his "ethical blindness."
