[elklindo69]

Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, broke spending laws when he installed a $43,000 soundproof privacy phone booth in his office, the Government Accountability Office ruled Monday.

Under federal law, Presidential appointees are allotted $5,000 to decorate their offices, unless Congress is notified in advance about a higher level of spending. Pruitt exceeded the allotment without notifying Congress, the GAO determined, thereby violating the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act and the anti-deficiency act.

The EPA did not immediately respond to request for comment; the organization had said that the phone booth should not be included as part of office decorations, a claim the GAO rebutted in its report.

“EPA’s statements place the privacy booth squarely within the meaning of “furnish,” as the booth equipped the office with something that EPA asserts it needed. Accordingly, section 710 [of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act] applied to this obligation and EPA was required to notify the appropriations committees of its proposed obligation,” Thomas Armstong, the GAO’s General Counsel wrote in a letter to Democratic lawmakers on Monday.

[RealJustme]

Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, broke spending laws when he installed a $43,000 soundproof privacy phone booth in his office, the Government Accountability Office ruled Monday.

Under federal law, Presidential appointees are allotted $5,000 to decorate their offices

What makes you think national security precautions are decorative?

[elklindo69]

Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, broke spending laws when he installed a $43,000 soundproof privacy phone booth in his office, the Government Accountability Office ruled Monday.

Under federal law, Presidential appointees are allotted $5,000 to decorate their offices

What makes you think national security precautions are decorative?

Criticism of Pruitt's expenses for expanding and upgrading his personal security, heavy spending on first-class airfare and controversial pay hikes for close aides is now spreading to Republicans, who until recently had dismissed the issue as a series of political attacks from Democrats and environmentalists who oppose his rollback of the Obama administration's policies.

"I’m not interested in covering for anybody else," Mulvaney told the House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. "I’m not any happier about it than you are."

Mulvaney's comments came two days after the Government Accountability Office found EPA violated the Antideficiency Act by failing to notify Congress about the cost of the secure phone booth. Federal law mandates agencies notify congressional appropriators if they intend to spend over $5,000 on office furnishings.

"We will investigate them," Mulvaney added.