Oversight

USA Today Several House Democrats are asking the FBI and the Justice Department  to investigate EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for potentially criminal behavior, including reportedly having an aide contact Chick-fil-A to see whether his wife could become a franchisee for the fast food restaurant. A letter from the lawmakers sent Friday asks FBI Director… Read more »

Washington Post Six House Democrats on Friday sought a criminal investigation into Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt for reportedly using his office in a bid to secure work for his wife. Writing to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and acting assistant attorney general John Cronan, the lawmakers said Pruitt had used his office for “the personal gain of himself and his… Read more »

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) today led more than 30 Democrats in a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry opposing the Administration’s baseless plan to use emergency authorities to intervene in planned power plant retirements. The lawmakers urged the Trump administration and Secretary Perry to stop using the false narrative that emergency authorities must be used to prop up coal plants for grid… Read more »

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) today had an exchange with an Energy Department official which revealed the Trump Administration is flying blind on both the costs of its proposed bailout for US energy companies, and on the effects that the bailout would have on American businesses, including the manufacturing sector. The exchange between Beyer and Bruce Walker, Assistant Secretary in the Office of… Read more »

While attending the White House’s “Media Row” event today to promote President Trump’s first 500 days in office, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt was asked by Nexstar reporter Jessica Smith to explain “reports that he tried to help his wife become a Chick-fil-A franchisee,” (for which Pruitt used his position and official EPA resources, in clear violation of federal regulations). Here is… Read more »

The Hill Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) criticized President Trump on Tuesday for lashing out at the special counsel investigation and at NFL players who protest social justice issues in a series of early morning tweets. “Waking in an authoritarian mood, the President again denies athletes’ free expression of opposition to police brutality, and attacks an investigation he demanded… Read more »

Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Peter Welch (D-VT) today wrote to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly requesting further details about the decision to grant security clearances to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump despite lapses in their original Standard Form-86’s (SF-86). The lawmakers requested that an explanation be included in a… Read more »

As the growing number of investigations into EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s misconduct makes the President’s ongoing decision not to fire him look more ridiculous by the day, Pruitt last week found new ways to disgrace his public office: AP: “Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building. When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA… Read more »

Rep. Don Beyer today issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s directive to the Department of Energy to order grid operators to purchase power from coal and nuclear power plants, without credible justification for such an act: “Today Donald Trump is ginning up a fake grid emergency to bail out donors in the coal industry, while ignoring a real grid emergency that has… Read more »

Think Progress Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has spent $3.5 million in taxpayer dollars on personal security in just his first year in the position, CBS News revealed Friday. This is far more than his two predecessors from the Obama administration, who CBS News says spent between $1.6 to $2 million annually on security. EPA spokesman Jahan… Read more »