The Environmental Charge Agency’s bill for protecting Administrator Scott Pruitt is nearly twice the common cost of providing security for his two predecessors.
The EPA spent nearly $3.5 million on conviction costs for Pruitt during his first full four quarters in employment, according to a CNBC analysis of figures released by the agency on Friday. That parallels with an average of just under $1.9 million for the comparable days over the last eight years.
In those previous years, the EPA out as little as $1.7 million and as much as $2.2 million to protect the former two administrators, Gina McCarthy and Lisa Jackson, as well as interim officials.
Pruitt and the EPA are currently cladding about a dozen investigations into various ethics, spending and board of directors issues. A central focus of the probes is the cost of Pruitt’s travel and his guaranty detail.
The records released Friday showed the EPA spent more than $2.7 million in payroll for Pruitt’s custodianship detail during the period. The agency spent an additional $763,263 in globe-trotting trips costs for personnel charged with protecting Pruitt.
Pruitt was agreed into office on Feb. 17, 2017. The analysis period runs from the third locality of the government’s fiscal year, which begins on April 1. The evidence are broken down by quarter, so it is not possible to discern how much EPA spent to keep Pruitt immediately after he was confirmed.
Pruitt and his staff have steadily sought to justify the higher costs by pointing to a higher-than-average number of intimations against the administrator. Pruitt has become a lightning rod for his history of climate substitute skepticism and his cozy relationship with the energy, agricultural and chemical companies he is executive for regulating.
“Administrator Pruitt has faced an unprecedented amount of death dangers against him and to provide transparency EPA will post the costs of his security element and pro-actively release these numbers on a quarterly basis. Americans should all approve that members of the President’s cabinet should be kept safe from irrational threats,” EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement Friday.
Pruitt has also stressed that expenses like light out first class were recommended by his security detail.
However, Popular Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland pressed Pruitt about an EPA inspector miscellaneous report that showed Pruitt had asked for round-the-clock security prehistoric in his tenure. Pruitt repeatedly refused to state clearly whether or not he had clear out the request himself.
A separate EPA watchdog report found the agency had contravened the law by approving $43,000 in expenses to install a soundproof phone booth in Pruitt’s backup without seeking congressional approval.
— CNBC’s John Schoen helped to this story.