Scott Pruitt seems to have lost his shot at replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Scott Pruitt.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

It's hard to imagine having a worse week at work than EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's.

A top aide, Samantha Dravis, resigned; his ethics firewall is crumbling over an apparent sweetheart rental deal from the wife of a top lobbyist whose firm lobbies the EPA; two EPA officials and a White House official tell The Washington Post that Pruitt ordered two hefty and problematic raises he just denied knowing about on Fox News; the Fox News interview backfired; and it was reported that he retaliated against officials who objected to a proposed $100,000-a-month charter jet service, $70,000 for two office desks, and the use of sirens when he was running late. Among other scandals.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Conservative groups, Republican senators, and Rush Limbaugh are pushing to keep Pruitt where he is, and Trump told reporters Thursday that "Scott's doing a great job where he is," and he has no plans to move him. "I just left coal and energy country, they love Scott Pruitt," he said. "They feel very strongly about Scott Pruitt." For now, Politico reports, "Pruitt's situation is a rare instance in which the president has remained loyal longer than other members of the White House staff, who are eager to see Pruitt gone."

Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.