Gabbard joins bipartisan call for resignation of EPA administrator Scott Pruitt

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is part of a bicameral coalition of 170 members of Congress that introduced a resolution today calling for the immediate resignation of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, according to a news release from the congresswoman’s office this morning.

The resolution cites Pruitt’s failure to carry out the mission of the EPA, gross misuse of taxpayer dollars and disregard for ethics among the reasons for his immediate resignation. The lawmakers also urged President Donald Trump to appoint a new administrator committed to the agency’s founding purpose to protect human health and the environment.

The agency is “hemorrhaging staff and experts,” said the resolution, with more than 700 employees having left or been forced out during Pruitt’s tenure. Yet the agency seeks to shrink staff by another 3,200 employees, which would make it difficult to implement its missions.

“The mission of the EPA is ‘to protect human health and the environment,’” said Gabbard in a news release. “To do so, the agency needs to be led by someone who is committed to fulfilling that mission. Administrator Pruitt has failed to live up to that standard – wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and putting corporate profits before the well-being of the American people and our environment. We need an EPA leader who is dedicated to carrying out its mission, and who is accountable to the people of this country.”