Mr. Pruitt also requested that the agency order other items — including leather-bound notebooks, fountain pens and stationery — from which he wanted to omit the E.P.A. The debate over souvenirs came as Mr. Pruitt was engaged in personal and public spending that has since become the subject of scrutiny, threatening his tenure at the E.P.A. In an interview with the Washington Examiner this month, Mr. Pruitt said he was under attack because he has been effective in enacting President Trump’s regulatory overhaul agenda and opponents would like to stop him. “Yes.”Mr. Trump defended Mr. Pruitt in a weekend Twitter message: “While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at E.P.A. Scott is doing a great job!”Some critics of Mr. Pruitt’s coin proposal said it missed the point of the gift item.

Source: New York Times April 11, 2018 20:55 UTC