With A Blue Wave Approaching, GOP Senators Are Nervous About Scott Pruitt

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Trump is standing by his scandal-plagued EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, but Republican Senators are getting worried that he will hurt them in November.

The nervousness of Republicans was apparent as they told Bloomberg:

“Obviously, Scott Pruitt has got some serious questions to answer,” Senator John Thune of South Dakota told reporters at the Capitol. “So we’ll see where that goes. But I think that’s being looked at, not just by the administration but also up here” in the Senate.

Thune said many members of Congress, particularly Republicans “like, on a policy level, many of the things that Administrator Pruitt is doing.” But on questions about Pruitt’s spending and travel, “obviously it’s hard to explain that away. He’s going to have to do it.”

…

Senator Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican who until recently had been one of Pruitt’s staunchest defenders, told reporters Tuesday he had become concerned about some of the recent allegations against the administrator.

“If they are all accurate, I would be very disturbed,” Inhofe said. Asked if Pruitt should step down if the allegations are true, Inhofe said it “depends on which ones we are talking about.”

Senate Republicans are worried that Democrats will use Pruitt against them

Republicans have turned a blind eye to Trump administration corruption for nearly two years, but now that their seats are on the line, they are feeling edgy about the ethical lapses of this administration. Republicans should be worried because there is a powerful undertone to the midterm election that something must be done about the rampant corruption of the Trump administration. Scott Pruitt is one of the faces of that corruption, and it is easy to imagine a series of ads linking vulnerable incumbent Senators to Pruitt and Trump.

The Republican Party should have never elevated Trump because it was widely known what he would do. Trump shadiness and corruption is not a surprise. It is also going to define the Republican Party. Getting rid of Pruitt isn’t the solution because the real problem is Donald Trump.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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