Page 10A
NATION
East Oregonian
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Pruitt OK’d as EPA chief over objections
By MICHAEL BIESECKER
Associated Press
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Donald Trump waves in front of the Boeing
787 Dreamliner while visiting the Boeing South Caroli-
na facility in North Charleston, S.C., on Friday.
Trump leaps back
into campaign mode,
raps media anew
NORTH CHARLESTON,
S.C. (AP) — Hoping to shift
attention from his troubled
White House, President
Donald Trump hit the road
Friday to deliver a pep talk
to American workers and
the rest of the nation, resur-
recting the jobs promises that
powered his election victory
and pledging in a campaign-
style rally to “unleash the
power of the American
spirit.”
But he was only a few
hours away from the turmoil
he has stirred in Washington
when he swerved from that
positive message to escalate
his complaints about news
coverage of his young
administration.
“The FAKENEWS media
... is not my enemy, it is the
enemy of the American
People!” he exclaimed on
Twitter, singling out The
New York Times and TV
networks. His latest outburst
came a day after he force-
fully defended his adminis-
tration in a marathon White
House news conference,
brushing aside the tumult,
infighting among senior staff
and setbacks in courts and
Congress.
He took a more upbeat
tack in South Carolina.
“We love our workers and
we are going to protect our
workers,” Trump declared
at a Boeing plant where the
company showed off its new
787-10 Dreamliner aircraft.
“We are going to fight for
jobs. We are going to fight
for our families,” he said in a
reprise of the “America First”
message from his campaign.
Trump is expected to stick
to the theme Saturday when
he holds a big rally in central
Florida, a change of scenery
that marks an effort to
galvanize a month-old White
House that has been buffeted
by crisis and paralyzed by
dysfunction.
The new president toured
a 787-10 still under construc-
tion and, before leaving,
sat in the pilot’s seat of a
completed airplane painted
in contrasting shades of blue
that formed the backdrop
for his remarks. Some 5,000
employees and others inside
a hangar greeted him with
chants of “USA, USA.”
The president, who owns
an airplane but now travels
exclusively on government
aircraft, praised the Boeing
jetliner as “an amazing piece
of art.” He noted that it’s
made of carbon fiber, seats
330 passengers, is 18 feet
longer than the previous
model and can fly for half a
day before landing.
“The name says it all.
Dreamliner, great name,”
Trump said. “Our country
is all about making dreams
come true.”
“As your president I’m
going to do everything I
can to unleash the power of
the American spirit and to
put our great people back to
work,” he said. “This is our
mantra: Buy American and
hire American.”
Trump then departed
South Carolina for his estate
in Palm Beach, Florida,
where he plans to spend the
holiday weekend. He arrived
late Friday afternoon.
In
Washington
on
Thursday, he complained
bitterly about news coverage
— and “criminal” leaks from
within the government that
took down his top national
security adviser and revived
questions about his own ties
to Russia.
Trump is still trying to
stabilize his national secu-
rity team. On Monday, he
demanded the resignation
of national security adviser
Michael Flynn following
revelations that Flynn had
misled Vice President Mike
Pence about Flynn’s contacts
with Russia. Trump’s first
choice to replace Flynn —
retired Vice Admiral Robert
Harward — turned down the
offer.
FBI Director Jim Comey
left a meeting with senators
on the intelligence committee
Friday afternoon. Neither
Comey nor the senators
would discuss the subject of
the meeting, but it followed
reports that the FBI had
interviewed Flynn about his
contacts in late December
with Russian officials.
Trump tweeted Friday that
retired Gen. Keith Kellogg,
“who I have known for a
long time, is very much in
play for NSA — as are three
others.” Kellogg, who is
serving as the acting national
security adviser, traveled to
South Carolina with Trump
aboard Air Force One.
Also along on the Florida
trip were Trump’s daughter
Ivanka; her husband, Jared
Kushner, a senior adviser to
Trump; White House chief
of staff Reince Priebus; and
strategist Steve Bannon.
Ivanka Trump waved and
blew kisses to the crowd as
she exited the completed
787-10 Dreamliner before
her father did.
The White House said
Trump might interview
national security candidates
at his estate.
In South Carolina, Trump
said, “America is going to
start winning again, winning
like never before,” returning
to a staple promise from last
year’s campaign speeches.
In his remarks, Trump
also mentioned that he’s
been in talks with Boeing
executives to reduce the
cost to the government of
building a future Air Force
One presidential aircraft. He
has denounced the costs as
“out of control.”
Asked by reporters for an
update after Friday’s speech,
Trump said: “Price is too
high. But we’re negotiating.”
Trump
scheduled
a
campaign-style
rally
Saturday in Florida, his first
as president.
The Florida rally comes as
he makes his third weekend
trip this month to what he calls
his “Winter White House,”
his Mar-a-Lago resort.
WASHINGTON — Over the strong
objections of environmental groups,
the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to
lead the Environmental Protection
Agency on Friday, giving President
Donald Trump an eager partner to
fulfill his campaign pledge to increase
the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.
Pruitt was sworn in later Friday by
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
In six years as Oklahoma’s attorney
general, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits chal-
lenging EPA regulations that included
limits on carbon emissions from
coal-fired power plants. He also sued
over the EPA’s recent expansion of
water bodies regulated under the Clean
Water Act, a federal measure opposed
by industries that would be forced to
clean up polluted wastewater.
Pruitt submitted his resignation as
attorney general to Oklahoma Gov.
Mary Fallin on Friday.
Pruitt’s supporters cheered his
confirmation, hailing the 48-year-old
Republican lawyer as the ideal pick
to roll back environmental regulations
they say are a drag on the nation’s
economy.
“EPA has made life hard for fami-
lies all across America,” said Sen. John
Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the
Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee. “The agency has issued
punishing regulations that caused
many hardworking Americans to lose
their jobs. Mr. Pruitt will bring much
needed change.”
The vote was 52-46 as Republican
leaders used their party’s narrow Senate
majority to push Pruitt’s confirmation
despite calls from top Democrats to
delay the vote until requested emails
are released next week.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was
the lone Republican vote against
Pruitt. Two Democrats from states with
economies heavily dependent on fossil
fuels crossed party lines to support
Trump’s pick, Sens. Joe Manchin of
West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of
North Dakota.
During his Senate confirmation
hearing last month, Pruitt said he
disagreed with Trump’s past state-
ments that global warming is a hoax.
However, Pruitt has previously
expressed doubt about scientific
evidence showing that the planet is
heating up and that humans are to
blame.
Pruitt’s nomination was vigorously
opposed by environmental groups and
hundreds of current and former EPA
employees, who fear he will preside
over massive budget and staff cuts.
“The biologists, scientists, lab
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File
In this Jan. 18 file photo, Scott Pruitt testifies on Capitol Hill in
Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee.
“Emails! Remember
emails?”
— Chuck Schumer,
Senate Democratic Leader
technicians, engineers and other civil
servants who work at the EPA must be
able to do their jobs without political
interference or fear of retribution,”
said J. David Cox Sr., president of the
American Federation of Government
Employees, a labor union representing
more than 9,000 EPA employees.
Democrats boycotted a committee
vote on Pruitt’s nomination last
month, citing his refusal to hand over
thousands of emails that he exchanged
with oil and gas executives. As part of
a public records lawsuit, a state judge
in Oklahoma on Thursday concluded
there was no legal justification for
Pruitt’s withholding his correspon-
dence for the past two years. She
ordered him to release most of the
emails by next week.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck
Schumer called for Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
to delay Pruitt’s confirmation vote
for 10 days. Schumer, of New York,
tried to draw a direct line between
Pruitt’s withheld emails and last year’s
demands from Republicans during the
presidential campaign.
“Emails! Remember emails?”
Schumer asked on the Senate floor.
“‘We should get them out!’ they said
about Hillary Clinton. ... If they weren’t
worried about them, then why rush?”
To dramatize their cause, Demo-
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crats kept the Senate in session
Thursday night into Friday morning
with speeches opposing Pruitt’s confir-
mation. Democrats were still marching
to the floor at daybreak.
In the end, McConnell had the votes.
So far, the Senate has confirmed 14 out
of 22 Trump Cabinet or Cabinet-level
picks requiring confirmation.
Another nominee, billionaire busi-
nessman Wilbur Ross, cleared a Senate
hurdle on Friday and is on track to win
approval to serve as commerce secre-
tary. A final vote is slated for Feb. 27.
Trump has tapped some of the
wealthiest Americans to serve in his
Cabinet, and ethics reviews have
slowed the confirmation process. So
have Senate Democrats, who have
opposed nominees and forced hours of
debate.
Pruitt is closely aligned in his home
state with oil and gas companies,
whose executives have backed his
political campaigns. Though Pruitt ran
unopposed for a second term in 2014,
public campaign finance reports show
he raised more than $700,000, much of
it from people in the energy and utility
industries.
Environmental groups have already
begun hiring additional lawyers to
stymie as much of Pruitt’s agenda as
possible in court.
“Scott Pruitt is the worst pick ever
confirmed to lead the EPA,” said Rhea
Suh, president of the Natural Resources
Defense Council. “We’ll use every tool
in the kit to stop him from harming
our air and water, endangering our
communities and surrendering our kids
to climate catastrophe.”
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