Senators ask Trump EPA chief pick to disclose energy industry ties
Senators ask Trump EPA chief pick to disclose energy industry ties
Valerie Volcovici
Reuters
The six senators sent a letter to Scott Pruitt, who as Oklahoma Attorney General led several lawsuits against the Obama administration's EPA to block its environmental rules, to ask him to list his connections to energy companies to weigh whether these ties will influence his ability to run the agency.
"What that conduct says about your ability to lead EPA in a manner that is not beholden to special or secret interests is a subject that we expect will receive a full airing during your confirmation hearing," the senators wrote in the letter.
The senators also said Pruitt's involvement with the Rule of Law Defense Fund, which they said supports initiatives by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, who have opposed the EPA's climate change regulations.
The Democratic Senators who sent the letter are Rhode Island's Sheldon Whitehouse, former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Oregon's Jeff Merkley, New Jersey's Cory Booker, Massachusetts' Ed Markey and Maryland's Ben Cardin.
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