Scott Pruitt, the scandal-ridden head of the Environmental Protection Agency and arguably the most anti-LGBT Cabinet member, has resigned. President Trump tweeted the announcement, saying the agency’s deputy administrator will assume the position until the President nominates a new Secretary.
…on Monday assume duties as the acting Administrator of the EPA. I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2018
The departure follows years worth of constant scandal and public outrage for Pruitt’s constant profligate spending and insider dealing. Pruitt, who gave every appearance of being in the pocket of industry, spent large portions of his time denying the existence of climate change.
As the former Attorney General of Oklahoma, Pruitt worked hard to burnish his anti-gay creds, opposing marriage equality and the rights of transgender students. As head of the EPA, he lobbied Trump to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and make him the replacement.
In a 2005 interview surfaced by Politico, Pruitt complained that “minority religions” were elbowing Christianity out of “the public square” and that evolution was a theory “more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint.” He also says he believes that his “inalienable” right to own a gun comes directly from God.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
He also called for states to hold a constitutional convention to re-examine the document and add anti-LGBT and anti-abortion amendments.
“I think the most grievous threat that we have today is this imperialistic judiciary, this judicial monarchy that has it wrong on what the First Amendment’s about and has an objective to create religious sterility in the public square, which is wholly inconsistent with the Founding Fathers’ view,” Pruitt warned.
If the rights of religious conservatives like him aren’t protected, Pruitt said darkly, “it leads to anarchy, it leads to rebellion,” something he said would happen in the coming decades.
In the end, it wasn’t “religious sterility,” that brought him down. It was his own greed – both for money and Jeff Session’s job.