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National Review says it's time for Pruitt to step down from EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The editors at conservative magazine National Review on Wednesday urged embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to resign citing his "bizarre" and "venal" behavior, amid a slew of ethics controversies surrounding his spending and management decisions at the agency.

QuoteThis is no way for any public official to treat taxpayers. It also makes it practically impossible for Pruitt to make the case for the Trump administration’s environmental policies — a case that we continue to believe deserves to be made.
— National Review editors wrote

The backdrop: The editorial comes just hours after Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said in radio interview with conservative pundit Laura Ingraham that the administrator "has really done some things that surprised me." An option for him to fix things, Inhofe added, "would be for him to leave that job."

  • The latest controversy hinges on the administrator reportedly trying to use his position to get his wife a job as a Chick-fil-A franchisee, per the Washington Post.
  • As Axios' Jonathan Swan noted, the latest revelation appears to be a breaking point for a number of conservatives.

Go deeper: Scott Pruitt's growing list of bizarre scandals; Why Pruitt's departure would not change EPA's policies.

Scott Pruitt