EPA chief Scott Pruitt's $43,000 soundproof booth broke law, GAO says

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the law when it approved a $43,000 soundproof phone booth last year for the office of embattled Administrator Scott Pruitt, a congressional watchdog unit said on Monday.

The Government Accountability Office said the EPA violated the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which prohibits an agency from obligating more than $5,000 in federal funds to furnish, redecorate or make improvements in the office of a presidential appointee without first notifying appropriations committees in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

The EPA also violated the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from incurring expenses in excess of funds available in appropriations, the GAO said.

Liz Bowman, an EPA spokeswoman, said the agency was "addressing GAO's concern, with regard to congressional notification about this expense, and will be sending Congress the necessary information this week."

The privacy booth, which Pruitt had told lawmakers in a hearing was needed to conduct agency business, was built in a space of a former storage closet in administrator's office.

The GAO had been asked to investigate the matter by Democratic lawmakers including U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Tom Udall.

Pruitt has been under fire from Republican and Democratic lawmakers for expensive travel and other expenses he has incurred. Last week, Democratic lawmakers asked him to provide documents about ethics issues they said were revealed to them by a former agency official, including spending on bulletproof vests, guns and a contract with an Italian security service.

Also last week, fellow Republican Trey Gowdy, head of the oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, asked Pruitt for more documents for his probe into the administrator's first-class air travel and leasing of a room in a Washington, D.C., condo for $50 a night that he was there.

President Donald Trump has said he supports Pruitt, who has carried out Trump's policy goals of slashing regulations on the oil, natural gas and coal industries, but will look into allegations about ethics lapses.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Timothy Gardner

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