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Despite last-ditch effort by EPA employees, Pruitt is confirmed

Gabriella Demczuk
/
The New York Times

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt appears to have made a good number of enemies within the agency he’ll soon helm, and he hasn’t even started the job yet.

As The New York Times reports, employees of the Environmental Protection Agency mounted an organized campaign to call their senators and plead that they vote against Pruitt to head the agency.

The Times called the action “a remarkable display of . . . defiance that presages turbulent times ahead for the EPA.”

President Trump has said that he intends to “get rid of” the EPA. And Pruitt has made a career of siding with oil and gas companies to battle regulations aimed at curbing pollution and climate change. On his own LinkedIn page, Pruitt proclaimed that he has “led the charge” against the EPA’s “activist agenda.”

Despite the passion of the federal employees, the effort  failed on Friday. Two Democratic Senators voted for Pruitt’s confirmation, and only one GOP Senator voted against him.