EPA's Scott Pruitt braces for tough questions at double hearings on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON - With his leadership at the Environmental Protection Agency increasingly on the line, Administrator Scott Pruitt heads to Capitol Hill Thursday morning for what should be tough grillings.

His 10 a.m. appearance before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on environment will be followed by afternoon testimony before the House Appropriations subcommittee on interior, environment and related agencies. Both hearings were scheduled to discuss the EPA's budget, but there could be as many questions, if not more, about the escalating controversies surrounding Pruitt in recent weeks.

One Republican with longtime ties to Pruitt, Rep. Tom Cole, Okla., has warned Pruitt that he faces a bruising inquisition. Cole, who sits on the Appropriations panel, said he told him that session would "be pretty rough. And be ready."

The administrator spent most of the past week rehearsing answers aimed at deflecting some of the most serious allegations about his ethics and management decisions. Several staffers said he huddled privately with his closest aides, outlining plans to blame others for some decisions, such as the large pay raises given two staffers who moved with him from Oklahoma to Washington.

Asked about those preparations, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox called the hearings "an opportunity to reiterate the accomplishments of President Trump's EPA, which includes working to repeal [President Barack] Obama's Clean Power Plan and Waters of the United States, providing regulatory certainty and declaring a war on lead - all while returning to Reagan-era staffing levels."

But in the face of the multitude of investigations over his leadership, by the EPA inspector general, the House oversight committee, the Government Accountability Office and the White House, Pruitt's status seems increasingly uncertain.

According to senior administration officials, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney has expanded an inquiry into the nearly $43,000 soundproof phone booth Pruitt had installed in his office to cover other costly expenditures, including tickets on first-class flights and stays at boutique hotels.

And the White House Counsel's Office is examining allegations of unethical behavior, among them Pruitt's decision to rent part of a Capitol Hill condo for $50 a night from a lobbyist and her husband, who had business before the agency.

Even some supporters in Congress are growing impatient, with GOP lawmakers demanding greater accountability and telling Pruitt allies to stand down from praising him. Nearly all Republicans have stopped short of calling for his resignation, however.

Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., said in a statement Wednesday that he has "been pleased" with Pruitt's work "rolling back regulations and restoring the EPA to its proper size and scope, but these latest reports are new to me. While I have no reason to believe they are true, they are concerning and I think we should hear directly from Administrator Pruitt about them."

Inside the White House, the EPA chief has lost the backing of many senior aides, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, and communications officials, lawyers and Cabinet affairs officials, whose calls he ignores. He is not interested in "turning the page," as one senior administration official put it Wednesday.

Pruitt, for his part, believes the White House is leaking damaging details about him and is "out to get him," in the words of a Pruitt ally.

Trump is not ready to remove Pruitt from his post, according to individuals who have spoken with him, but he has become increasingly concerned as new allegations have continued to surface.

Marc Short, a senior Trump aide and longtime Koch brothers political operative, remains one of the few in the administration willing to defend him, administration officials said. Short has told donors and advisers in recent days that Pruitt has done well at the agency.