https:// www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/climate/scott-pruitt-epa-investigations-guide.html

Calls for Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to resign escalated on Wednesday when nearly 170 congressional Democrats demanded his departure.

A resolution, sponsored by Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico and Representative Kathy Castor of Florida, that called for Mr. Pruitt’s resignation drew 39 Senate co-sponsors. It was the largest number of Senators to ever sign on to a resolution calling for a cabinet official to be removed from office, according to Kara Baer, a legislative editor in the Senate Library.

The resolution is not likely to go anywhere without Republican support, which it lacks. Still, it highlights the pressure Mr. Pruitt already faces from nine investigations — by Congress, the White House and his own agency — into whether he misused taxpayer funding or violated other legal standards.

This week the Government Accountability Office, often called the watchdog arm of Congress, found that the E.P.A. broke the law when it spent $43,000 on a secure phone booth for Mr. Pruitt. And on Wednesday, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget told Congress he also intended to examine Mr. Pruitt’s spending habits.

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https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/04/17/pruitt-upgraded-to-a-larger-customized-suv-with-bullet-resistant-seat-covers/?utm_term=.6470bee3cce1

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt upgraded his official car last year to a costlier, larger vehicle with bullet-resistant covers over bucket seats, according to federal records and interviews with current and former agency officials.

Recent EPA administrators had traveled in a Chevrolet Tahoe, and agency officials had arranged for Pruitt to use the same vehicle when he joined the administration in February last year. But he switched to a larger, newer and more high-end Chevy Suburban in June.

One former EPA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said Pruitt remarked that he wanted the larger car because it was similar to ones in which some other Cabinet officials rode. The first year’s lease of the vehicle cost $10,200, according to federal contracting records.

The records show the EPA administrator’s office signed a lease in June on the Suburban, paying more than $300 extra per month for upgrades such as a leather interior, bucket seats in the second row and WiFi and GPS navigation. A representative at the Maryland-based company who provided the lease said the LT model that the EPA requested represents an upgrade from the LS model that is typical on government leases.

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