Scott Pruitt used a clean water law to give a staffer a $56,765 raise

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt is taking incoming fire from multiple directions these days. Scandals emerging over his first class airline travel, large security detail, and unorthodox living arrangements in a Capitol Hill townhouse have combined to raise doubts about his future in President Donald Trump’s cabinet. 

The most egregious Pruitt scandal, though, involves the use of a little-known provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act, which permits the EPA administrator to hire up to 30 people into the agency without White House or congressional approval. 

According to reporting by Elaina Plott and Robinson Meyer of The Atlantic, the provision exists in order to give the agency the ability to bring in experts and help relieve personnel shortages in key offices. (The Washington Post subsequently confirmed The Atlantic‘s reporting.) Read more…

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Source: Mashable | Scott Pruitt used a clean water law to give a staffer a ,765 raise