pruitt. he is pruitt. he is accompanied by holly grave who is the chief financial officer for the agency. thank you both for coming back before the subcommittee. just a reminder the colleagues will follow the early bird rule. we'll have six minutes rounds of questions. i anticipate that there will be substantial interest in hearing this morning. so i ask members to try to stick with the time limit. we can do multiple rounds but the administrator has a hard stop at noon. so we will be working meet that. we also have a couple of votes at noon as well. each year the subcommittee holds a hearing to examine the e.p.a.'s budget request. in some years the budget is the focus of the committee. in other agencies actions draw the majority of the question. i would suggest that the size of the audience this morning is an indicator of substantial interest in this year's hearing. so i look forward to the dialogue. administrator pruitt, when you were before the committee last year, you said that you would work to return

i too support scott pruitt. let me say, i think objective observers who watched his testimony would have to agree that it was unimpressive -- it was on impressive display of knowledge and patience. attorney general pruitt demonstrated that he was intelligent, and -- articulated, thoughtful, patient, and knowledgeable. because of that he will eventually be confirmed. we are going to get through this. the people on the other side of the aisle are friends of mine. i'm disappointed in them today. frankly, i was disappointed in hearingnduct during the . they were taking a complicated witness tosking the answer yes or no what we all know that those issues do not call for a yes or no answer your putting up a poster of campaign contributors to the republican attorney general's association that inow suggest that peach the ability of attorney to bel pruitt administrator of the epa. it was silly. it was beneath them. again, we will get past this. it was a disappointment to me. this action today by the democratic members of

pruitt: we have also grown our gdp. we have always believed we can be about job growth, job creation, stewardship, and taking care of the environment. we can do that collectively. it simply is a false choice to say we must choose between the two. adopt ashat we have to a country and recognize that we have that obligation as we go forward. the president is leaving us in a substantial way. >> we teased a little bit about waters in the united states. mr. pruitt: and the president talked about it. likes for have become regulatory purposes -- links -- lakes for regulatory purposes. why is it so significant for you to take action? mr. pruitt: one of the greatest examples of one of the past administrations taking a step for power is the rule. >> for those who may not know, what is the united states water act? mr. pruitt: the clean water act gives us certain authority as an agency, and there is a definition called waters of the united states. the reason that is important is because if you do find that broadly, if you stretch it

secretary pruitt: if i may. i think what's important with respect to the scientific transparency, it doesn't apply to only certain studies. it applies to all third party studies. every type. many members on this committee i'm sure would be very concerned if a.p.i. went out and did a study, didn't provide the methodology, data, provided conclusions to the e.p.a. and the e.p.a. acted on rule making with respect to methane or other issues, there would be tremendous concerns about that. it applies to all third party science, irrespective of the source. it just simply says data, methodology, conclusions matter and the american people need to be able to consume that. mr. cramer: it seems to me. i appreciated the inquiry earlier, maybe you could elaborate, how personal data can be protected and is protected. nobody's asking for the names of pollution m of every source that's ever happened in the world. not asking for personal data. we're asking simply for the science to be revealed. you can protect the personal data, r

administrator pruitt and his maryland, arers, the devoted parents of two children. got to love those names. administrator pruitt, in addition to his years of experience in the public sector is also a successful entrepreneur. as a co-owner and general managing partner of oklahoma city's aaa minor league baseball affiliate, the oklahoma city red hawks, he's helped become one of the minor league leaders in attendance. so as you can see our new administrator has not only a record of public service but also business experience that will serve him well as he under takes his new responsibilities at our agency. of course i will leave it to administrator pruitt to share his vision and principles for his leadership at epa, but i would like to highlight just a few examples from his biography, some examples of how he has worked with others during his service in the public sector that i think will be of particular interest to you. as attorney general for oklahoma mr. pruitt worked with his democratic counterpart in arkansas regarding water quality in the illinois river which cro

scott pruitt. the chair of the committee john barrasso suspended committee rose to move the nomination to the senate floor. this is 10 minutes. >> the committee is called to order. we are reconvening our business meeting to consider nomination of attorney general scott pruitt to be epa administrator. yesterday the minority members of the committee chose to boycott this business meeting. it is disappointing that they chose that course of action. we will not allow it to obstruct. as i stated yesterday this committee has conducted an extremely thorough and fair process of reviewing attorney general's pruitt's nomination. that includes hearing of length, number of kwegs and timely responses. it is unprecedented to delay for incoming president to this extent. we had an election last november. the people spoke and now it is time to set up a functioning government. that includes a functioning epa. to do that this committee has to do its work. so at this time i ask for a motion to suspend rules 2 a, 4 and

pruitt, 14 republicans for, 45 democrats against. puzder, no republicans for, only three democrats got a chance, fortunately, to show who mr. puzder is. tillerson, six republicans for. democrats, 27 against. they don't want sunlight on this cabinet. they want to rush it. we have gone america, senator mcconnell, we have done america a service by showing who these people are and now every time betsy devos tries to hurt public education, the american eople will have their eye on her. when senator price decides to gut health care -- secretary price now decides to gut health care, the american people will have their eyes on him. on issue after issue, the american people are learning not only who this cabinet is but who donald trump really is norkts the donald trump who campaign -- really is, not the donald trump who campaigned for people, campaigned for people and said he was for the working people in the campaign. his broken promises just in this cabinet alone are legion. >> so we're open to some questions. reporter: what do you think yo

pruitt: there's no evidence of that. thatnator inhofe said while he has full confidence in the president in this, he's very lower-level career government employees in the epa and state department to actually exitte what is needed to the paris climate accord. as the administrator of the epa, what do you say? mr. pruitt: what's important to know was that the president said unequivocally yesterday that the targets set in paris are not enforceable and they're not going to be complied with. where theclimate united states committed $3 billion in additional funding is not going to continue. that is unequivocally the case and that's when the immediate. there are discussions that are ongoing with the justice department on the steps that we will be taking to execute the withdrawal and exit. that is something that's going to be happening over the next several weeks. as far as the targets are concerned and the green climate cyber is a media that is clear. european leaders have made it very clear that the deal can't be negotiated, so

scott pruitt: i do know that. grants $4 billion per year. $84,000 to the university of michigan to study -- you will love this -- and effectiveness -- the effectiveness of using churches to promote environmental causes. $1.5 million went to the university of colorado to study pollution caused by residential cooking in africa. that is an important use of your tax dollars. and last but not least, a unitarian church received an soironmental justice grant, your baseball guy, right? myave had to use some of baseball's that these -- studies for this forum. oklahomaust a guy from , ricky metal. you're probably a huge fan of him. he was third on the home run your favorite baseball player, all-time hit record holder. all of comes to cutting the regulation, are you going to be more like the guy with lots of hits and undo it a bit of a time, or are you going to go for those home runs? scott pruitt: it is good to do both? hits him out of the park and move them down the field. i think it is both. there are some regulations tha

pruitt on topic. i would note that he has a flight to get to, so we will try to keep this relatively short. mr. pruitt: it's good to be with you this afternoon. i want to first begin by saying the president made a very courageous decision yesterday, on behalf of america. he put america's interest first with respect to environmental agreements and international discussions. i appreciate his fortitude, i appreciate his leadership in this matter, the discussion of the last several weeks has been one of thoughtful deliberation. he heard many voices. voices across a wide spectrum of vantage points and the president made a very informed and thoughtful and important decision for the country's benefit. but we have to remember when it comes to the environmental agreement and international agreements with respect to things like the paris agreement is we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. we reduced our co2 footprint to levels of the early 1990's, from 2000 to 2014 we reduce the carbon footprint b

off has been pruitt's biggest supporter. has started questioning and saying he wants investigations into pruitt's behavior which energy insiders and d.c. thought was a watershed moment. host: a few minutes before that hearing is scheduled to start, the members taking their seats in the energy and commerce hearing room, there is congressman shimkus in the chairman's seat. why is he in the chairman spot today? guest: it is a subcommittee, so he is acting as chairman today. democrataul tonko, the from new york is the ranking member. host: they will be running today? hearing -- they will be running today's hearing? i am mad and -- will wants to get questions in as well. gas -- wants to get questions in as well. airing thisl meeting again this evening on c-span 2. caller: good morning. think the lady left off a couple of points of interest. an ethics committee approved the lease for that suite. , the science issue, it was not that they had to use -- they had to reveal their base data and they had to be subjected to successful pee

pruitt. reducing carbon emissions is the result of smart vehicle emission standards, clean air regulations, and our federal efforts to incentive investments in clean energy, including natural gas and renewables, most of which your epa is now trying to weaken or repeal. you often remind the people that you are a former attorney general and you say that you, your quote, know what it means to prosecute folks. but under your leadership, epa has slowed actions against polluters. and though you have touted epa's recent enforcement successes, saying epa has collected billions of dollars in penalties during your time at the agency, you conveniently forgot to mention that more than 90% of those penalties are from cases prosecuted entirely by the obama administration. you say that you are, quote, getting the agency back to basics. but actions like the one you took just last week, just last week, to reverse critical prosecutions against hazardous air pollutants show that your epa is actually move us bac

pruitt: thanks, catherine. thank you so much. [applause] mr. pruitt: well, thank you, catherine. it has been a joy to meet catherine and spend time with her. i do thank you for the hat. i'm excited about being in a city that actually has a major league baseball team because that's going to be exciting in the evening to enjoy some good baseball and i'll make sure i wear this hat as we attend those games. and the parent club of my aaa team was the texas rangers, so during the american league we're going to be ok to cheer for the nationals for the national league, so excited about that. it's been an honor and joy to be with you this morning. i've gotten a chance to meet with some of you and as i spent time with you this morning it was abundantly clear to me that you love what you do. there's an old saying that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. so i want to say thank you for catherine, for her leadership the last month and a half or so, it took a while to get here, but thank you for that. and i want to say thank you for those who have served this for quite s

caller: scott pruitt.esignation, won't make a lot of difference, except that one man has been caught being a crook. he is out. it is the policies that are destroying our environment, they will continue. as long as we have these policies exist, we're going to continue to have more breathing problems, diseases we never heard of before. the children are coming down with diseases that we have no idea where they came from. they have infections. host: as far as the policies themselves -- which policy did you have the most problems with? caller: all of them. in the first place, he went in not even knowing what the duties of the environmental protection agency were. he did not know they included any sort of nuclear waste. he didn't realize that. the thought it had nothing to do with that. he is just -- he was not prepared to do a good job. i do not like their policies about water, air, not focusing the oil.energy, i think they have made, whatever they are doing is trying to support the rich. make more money for pe

starting with the honorable scott pruitt. i think many americans are surprised at the limited ability of the president to take on the deep state. he is the chief executive. you headed the federal agency or what do you recommend for taking down or controlling the deep state? mr. pruitt: it is good to be with you here in dallas, good to be with ryan who is a partner in this process. we work closely together. jacki's question is what this administration has been about since day one. taking on this regulatory state, that the obama administration weaponize against the american academy. there is no greater example of how an agency can be used in a very negative way than the epa tore the american economy. the agricultural sector, many sectors of our economy, the agency was weaponize against those sectors. and we came in, the president called me on the day of my confirmation and said, you are in the second-most important agency beyond the department of defense. he knew how important it was to right the ship. to make sure we adopted r

[applause] scott pruitt: we know what those are. we know that the previous administration, they took the clean water act and made puddles and dry creek bed the subject of the jurisdiction of washington dc. that is going to change. the future is not what it used to be. [applause] i think there will be some big steps taken to address some of those regulations, and some singles and doubles as well. >> you walked in that day with a lot of people wondering if they would have jobs. the number one thing people want to ask you is how much we cannot -- can be cut from the epa budget? people are suggesting we take it down to 90%. -- down by 90%. scott pruitt: i think in the near term, the most important thing we can focus upon at the epa is getting it all right. making sure the regulations that are posted and adopted by the agency are consistent with the rule of law and congressional mandates, and rollback those who are inconsistent from the previous administration. that is the work in the near term. long-term, asking the questions on how tha

>> next, epa administrator scott pruitt's testimonial for the environment and public works committee. he answered questions about the agency possible making ross s and efforts to eliminate lead from drinking water. this is two hours. >> >> now, good morning. i call this hearing to order. we have quite a full house today. i welcome the audience. this is a formal senate hearing in order to allow the committee to conduct its business. i'm going to maintain decorum. that means, if there's any disorder or demonstration by a member of the audience, that person causing the disruption will be escorted from the room by the capitol police. first, i'd like to welcome the administrator of the environmental protection agency, the honorable scott pruitt to the senate environment and public works committee for your testimony today. with respect to today's hearings, we're going to abide by the committee's five-minute rule for length of member questions in the first round. time permitting, we will also have a two-minute second round of questions until 12:30, when administrator pruitt has to

host: bob dean, calling for the firing of scott pruitt. you are with us until the house gavels in briefly around 9:00 this morning. we will be taking your calls and comments. what is your reading of where senators are on this push to fire? >> even some republicans are trying to put distance between themselves and scott pruitt. he has become a poster boy for government abuse. that doesn't go down well for members of congress. they hear about it, and they should. this man is there to serve the public. he is going to bat for industrial polluters and that is just wrong. host: peter is up first. good morning. caller: good morning to you. this trump administration is astounding for its lack of ethics. i'm astounded. independent --an i cannot believe some of the things that i am seeing going on inside the d.c. beltway. do you knowask, what don nickles is up to? ofwas in the hip pocket lobbyists in oklahoma. maybe you want to comment on that and the fact the trump administration, when i look at this, the two men with the longest seniority now, son

well, president trump started by appoting scott pruitt head the e.p.a. corruption oozes out of his office. ter] from wasting hundreds of ounds ofyer doll cutting deals to make himself rich to doing the bidding of the highest paid lobbyists. consider clean water.the ean wad to protect drinking water, but industry opposes the rule because it means they can't dump toxic chemicals in the water or spread toxic waste on ground where it might run into drinking water. and since industry doesn't like the cln terule, sct pruitt has come up with a plan for ending it. or think about pesticides. three years ago the e.p.a. decided to ban a dangerous pesticide that puts our children at risk. but right after scott pruitt met with the c.e.o. of dow chemical, the rule was gone. or power. the clean power plan is the biggest step we have taken to fight against climate change, but once scott pruitt met with executives from big coalth e.p.a. announced its plans to end the rule. in just over a year, the administration has worked to roll back more than 60 environmental rules, f

pruitt: yes, sir. ofator sanders: 97% scientists believe that human acted -- human activity is the fundamental reason we are seeing climate change. do you disagree with that? mr. pruitt: i believe the ability to measure with precision is subject to more debate on whether the climate is changing or we contribute to it. senator sanders: you are not certain to rid the vast majority of signed his are telling us if we do not get our act together and transform our energy system .way from fossil fuels so, you are applying for a job as administrator for the epa to protect our environment. a majority of scientists have said we need to act boldly and you're telling me that there needs to be more debate on this issue and we should not be acting boldly. mr. pruitt: as i indicated, the climate is changing -- senator sanders: you have not told me why you think the climate is changing. mr. pruitt: the job of the administrator is to carry out the statutes of this body -- senator sanders: why is the climate changing? m

administrator scott pruitt. (applause) the next person on the stage was the 52nd secretary of the interior, ryan zinke. he was a u.s. navy seal. he retired with the rank of commander. he was telling me earlier it was easier to be a navy seal than to be a secretary of the interior. zinke has a distinction of being the first navy seal to be elected to the united states house of representatives and he told me the difference was when he was a navy seal he could shoot back. let us bring to the stage secretary of interior, ryan zinke. and as our moderator, jackie is a senior fellow. he was with an engineering firm specializing in energy, national security, and environmental cleanup. let us bring to the stage jackie deson. >> thank you. god bless you. >> all right. we have precious little time because there is a plane to be caught. i'll get right to it starting with the honorable scott pruitt. i think many americans are surprised at the limited ability of the president to take on the deep state. he is the chief executi

pruitt requested 24/7 protection. so i know you keep trying to say this says that it was their idea. this says they made that decision after you requested it. >> i can only say, senator, i did not decide, direct that decision to be made. that was made by the office of criminal enforcement. i was aware of the process taking place prior to my arrival. you remember my confirmation process, senator, it was fairly competitive and intense and there was ongoing process -- >> i'm just reading. we are all trying to figure out what the facts are here. i'm simply reading -- >> and i am as well. >> -- from the ig report and the ig report says their decision was made after you requested 24/7 protection. not that it was made because they conclude that had there was a need for 24/7. >> the inspector general in my view was simply trying to clarify that they don't engage in assessments. that's the protective service detail that does that. the document that was referred to earlier, i think ranking menu doll mentioned of, of august, tha

screw it was pretty deep -- scott pruitt was pretty deep in the special interest. it feels super strange. i feel like i am on a bad trip honestly. host: you think scott pruitt was a major influence on the president's decision? caller: who knows. the dude seems to kind of listen to himself in respects to donald. host: theodore in newport beach, california. the u.s. with withdrawing from the limit accord, announced by president trump. -- climate accord announced by president trump. the phone numbers are on the screen. on twitter, looking for your teeth -- tweets @cspan. -- notely no-trump evidence donald trump can negotiate a better deal. saturday for america and science. nice to have a candidates science -- promises. how can we save jobs if there is no clean air to breathe by 2040? and we don't need to support the test thatcredence want us to fund junk science. the independent line, jack. caller: i wanted to comment as an independent who voted for hillary. it is interesting withdrawing from this agreement hearing from trump's speech saying if the democrats wanted to

pruitt: that is correct senator. sanders: some 97% of scientists who have written articles for peer reviewed journals have concluded that climate change is real, it is caused by human activity, and it is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world. do you believe that climate change is caused by the emission -- by carbon emissions by human activity? mr. pruitt: as i indicated in my opening statement, the climate is changing and human activity contribute to that in some manner. senator sanders: in some manner? signing -- 97% of the scientists who wrote articles believe that human activity is the fundamental reason we are seeing climate change. you disagree with that? mr. pruitt: i believe the ability to measure with precision is subject to more debate on whether the climate is changing or that human activity contributes to it. are notsanders: you certain the vast majority of scientists are telling us if we do not get our act together and transport our energy system away from fossil fuel, t

a aiolation oral ethics law scott pruitt should resign. m very troubled and a lot of my colleagues are troubled that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, many of them have not called him out. they have not signed confidence resolution. down at thehite h they continue to say it's acceptable for scott pruitt to serve as our e.p.a. administrator. and i'm here on the floor today because we simply cannot stand for this any longer. i'm asking for allour colu on bot sides of the aisle to sign on to house resolution 834 and say it is time to stand up for ethics in government. this wasteful spending is undermining the confidence the american people have in our country and the ability of our government to protect them from air pollution and water pollution and toxic chec more importantly, this is a time f or to sa our environmental protection agency , we have very high standards. we have high standards for what we believe in. the landmark clean water act. erytngh we do to air act. ot the climate and to reduce carbon pollution. it's just got

now, remarks from epa administrator scott pruitt. he delivered the keynote address at the national league of cities conference in washington -- washington, d.c. he was introduced by karen freeman wilson. this is just over 10 minutes. >> the poll is, in one word , describe how you feel about being an elected official. now, you've got to get your phones out. you have got to type it in. we're going to give you some chance. if you are like me yesterday, i didn't have a chance to answer because i wasn't doing it quick enough . i see honored, i see excited. --looks like honor is humbled. wow. humbled is trying to catch up. i think humbled, honored, sort of like no and -- neck and neck. honored and humbled is really important because we should be proud of the work that we do. it's also important for us to keep in mind why we got involved in local government in the first place. what motivated you to serve? yesterday, we asked a few of you that very question and here's what you had to say. ♪ >> iran for office -- i ran for wasce for many reas

pruitt: i am sorry. investigation? >> do you support special counsel mueller completing his investigation? mr. pruitt: i am not --i think the process is continuing. >> it is a simple yes or no. do you support him completing his investigation? you are a law enforcement official. mr. pruitt: i think as attorney general, it is important for law enforcement, those investigators to serve prosecutors to provide adequate information to them to make informed decisions about whether to proceed. i did that as attorney general and i would hope that happened at a federal level as well. >> as you know, the right answer is yes. whenever there is an ongoing nvestigation, a president or rudolph giuliani or anybody else should not be interfering in that investigation, putting time limits on it or anything else. that's the reality. i am asking the questions. yesterday i requested an inquiry into the april 13 two weeks from the -- tweet from the e.p.a. official account where you mocked democratic senators opposing an e.p.a. official. are

pruitt has done to the epa. will the american public be able to trust the epa in its mission to protect public health and the environment? i believe in giving credit where credit is due. the few weeks that mr. wheeler has been the acting administered , he has published conferences on his calendar on a daily basis. he has opened up the epa to work to ensure that the beleaguered crew staff once again feels valued, respected, and included. he withdrew mr. pruitt's parting act to stop enforcing air emissions standards for some of the dirtiest heavy-duty trucks on the road under the clear act, granting one company permission to continue building glider trucks for two years. thank you for that. there is a whole lot more to be done. mr. wheeler has told me repeatedly that he shares my bull and striking a deal between automakers and and states on fuel economy and tailpipe standards. unfortunately, the administration's proposal could not be further from the win-win outcome on this committee and outside this committee tha

pruitt couldn't answer it. he is under so many investigations for his self-dealing swampy behavior that he couldn't give a number. the answer is at least 15, at least 15 investigations and now we have a sitting cabinet member raising money from an outside legal defense fund, and we don't even know who is paying. scott pruitt was hired for a reason. his big polluter backers put him in charge because they knew he would put their profits first. he is selling away our clean air and clean water to the highest bidder, as long as he can keep his first-class seats and 24/7 security, as long as the special interests continue to bank roll his political future. americans look at people like scott pruitt and they see a washington that is not just hopelessly out of touch, but fundamentally broken. democrats have a plan to fix it, with historic reforms to put the american people back in charge and restore faith in our democracy. and it starts with ending the strange willhold of big money on of big money on our electoral syst

pruitt. the overall epa has never been more important. mr. chairman, i am deeply troubled by the direction of the agency under the trump administration, and i implore you in my republican colleagues to conduct true oversight of the damage being done to our bedrock environmental protections built through decades of bipartisan work. we need to do it before deep and lasting damage is inflicted across america. waging anepa is aggressive rollback of environmental and human health oversight. repealing or delaying rule-making, and attacking fundamental science. the trump administration proposed extreme budget cuts that cut to the heart of our local communities and threaten the health and environment of americans in every state. the trunk budget would/epa's billion, nearly $2.6 reduce the professional workforce there by over 3000 employees, and the damage will be done to our air quality, diesel admission reductions, let safety. emission reductions, lead safety. this is not acceptable. this needs over

pruitt is not a pro-growth, pro-economic decision. it is simply responding, unfortunately, to political forces that drove this administration to power from the fossil fuel industry. the overwhelm saving glace of mr. pruitt's order he allows a large and long public comment period for the people of this country who do care about clean air and who do care about our environment to weigh in on this reckless decision that turns the clock back for public health and safety, and for our economy. because that's where the growth is going to be is in renewables. not power production of the past. it is not a war on coal. coal production is not singled out in the clean power plant regulations. but what it does say is that any plant, whether it's coal or whether it's natural gas or whether it's solar panels, you've got to address the question of carbon emissions. you don't get to produce that power and then leave a mess behind you. and that is a very simple principle which i think every american can understand and unfortunately is about to be torped

pruitt said no, that is not what the law says, and it has already regulation.n the it is true that pruitt has disagreed with the eva, but it is also true that he has been right and he understands very well what the epa's responsibility and role is. somebody running the epa understands the limits on its power and understand what it should and should not be doing is a huge improvement over what we have had, which is an epa that thinks there are no limits on what you do. host: we will take a couple more calls. next we have dolores from tennessee on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling because i believe climate change is real, and one of my concerns is fracking. there are states -- i believe kansas, oklahoma -- and they have had more earthquakes than ever before, i mean, a great number of earthquakes, which i believe is caused by fracking. if you do fracking and you get too close to the andrea's fault, which runs through santa fe, -- thesem from earthquakes. i know here in tennessee, for temperatures, according to our meteorologists, are 30 degrees above norm

there will be a vote on scott pruitt for e.p.a. chief at 1:00 today. we have a short piece of video from last night where democratic senator ed markey of massachusetts, sort of summed up the concern and the frustration of democrats over the process. here's a look. senator markey: we're six minutes to midnight on thursday night, the vote is now scheduled in 13:05 here on the senate floor. these emails are going to be released next tuesday. so that they can be a public examination of them sew finally determine what is the relationship between scott pruitt and these industries who he will be given responsibility to regulate. what are they hiding? why are they rushing? why won't they give the american people the ability to find out what is in inside of these emails before there is a vote here on the senate floor? because once that vote takes place, he will be the head of the e.p.a. and then we will find out what conflicts may exist. what relationships may exist. what decisions have been made. but, no, the senate leadership will not give the american people

s gives hisean thoughts on scott pruitt's management of the epa. later, a conversation with former trump campaign economic zder, about hispu latest book. ♪ good morning -- host: good morning. it is wednesday, april 25, 20 18. the house is scheduled to meet today before adjourning to prepare for today's joint meeting with congress in front of emmanuel macron. we will cover it all for you on c-span. until then, it is the washington journal, and we begin today discussing a presidential cabinet in flux, with president working to fill top administration positions at the state department and his epa administrator under fire. if you think the president's cabinet and his nominees have been treated fairly. our phone lines this morning -- republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also catch up with us on social media. on twitter it is @cspanwj. on facebook, facebook.com/cspan. morning to you. you can start calling in now as we show you a few headlines from today's paper, having to do with the president's ca

well, president trump started by appointing scott pruitt to head the e.p.a. corruption oozes out of his office. [laughter] from wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to cutting dealso make himself rich to doing the bidding of the highest paid lobbyists. consider clean water. the clean water rule is designed to protect drinking water, but industry opposes the rule because it means they can't dump toxic chemicals in the water or spread toxic waste on ground where it might run into drinking water. and since industry doesn't like the clean water rule, scott pruitt has come up with a plan for ending it. or think about pesticides. three years ago the e.p.a. decided to ban a dangerous pesticide that puts our ildren at risk. but right after scott pruitt met with the c.e.o. of dow chemical, the rule was gone. or power. the clean power plan is the biggest step we have taken to fight against climate change, but once scott pruitt met with executives from big coal, the e.p.a. announced its plans to end the rule. in just over a year, the administration has work

administrator scott pruitt who talked about some of the changes taking place at his agency and how it's balancing economic factors with protecting the environment but he made no comments about recent allegations against him of improper spending or ethics violations. >> thank you. it's good to be back at faith and freedom. i appreciate ralph's kind words and all that he does to advance religious liberty and all you do we saw how important that was this week with jack phillips and the great victory at the u.s. supreme court that proteched the free exercise of the christian baker in colorado. we should celebrate that this week. [applause] and understand that it makes a difference. several years ago, i had the pleasure of traveling with my church to romania on a mission trip. the first time i'd take an trip abroad. i went to romania, particularly to with the revolution occurred in that country. i was visiting with a pastor in romania and going through his church that existed during the 1950's and 1960's. and he showed me up on the wall all the pictures of pass tors. and as i saw that pictur

reporter: back on pruitt. the democrats are drawing parallels with republicans' crit sims of hillary clinton, her emails. how is it different with produce snit and why not hold up his vote for a couple days until the emails are released? senator mcconnell: if they were not making that argument, they would be making another argument. i hate to keep saying the same thing over and over. it doesn't make any difference what the current argument is. if they weren't using that one they would be using another one. the goal here is to feed the base, to give people a chance to get organized and complain, and they want to have pruitt out there over the recess so all of their supporters can come express themselves, which i think they have a perfect right to do. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. two questions, one on your commitment to obamacare, is that to repeal and replace it by the end of this session of congress? and secondly, we saw the president left very openly yesterday on this issue of what to do with the dreamers