<p>Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt resigned Thursday following a series of controversies regarding ethical lapses and improper spending. ;</p>
<p>Pruitt has done &ldquo;an outstanding job,&rdquo; tweeted Trump on Thursday, &ldquo;and I will always be thankful for this.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Pruitt, a former Attorney General for the state of Oklahoma, caught the attention of conservatives by leading several influential lawsuits against Obama-era policies like the <em>Clean Power Plan</em> and <em>Affordable Care Act. ;</em></p>
<p>He was engaged in his 14th lawsuit against the EPA when he was tapped by Trump to lead the agency.</p>
<p>In a letter to Trump, Pruitt said the decision to resign was &ldquo;extremely difficult,&rdquo; but necessary, in light of the &ldquo;unrelenting attacks&rdquo; on him and his family. ;</p>
<p>The accusations against Pruitt include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Inappropriate spending within the agency</li>
<li>Use of subordinates to complete personal errands</li>
<li>Efforts to find his wife a job in Washington ;</li>
<li>Occupation of a rental house owned by a DC lobbyist ;</li>
<li>Travel expenses, including using EPA money to fly to his home state</li>
<li>Pay raises for employees</li>
</ul>
<p>While many Administration officials had urged Trump to fire him over his bad behavior, Trump never wavered in his support for Pruitt. And that&rsquo;s because Pruitt did exactly what Trump wanted him to do. ;</p>
<p>Pruitt reorganized the agency to remove corruption (like the fact that its board members were voting themselves grants), undid almost all of Obama&rsquo;s environmental agenda, and advised Trump to withdraw from the Paris Accord. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;He was single-minded at restoring the EPA to its proper statutory authority and ending the burdensome regulations that have stifled economic growth across the country,&rdquo; said Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK). &ldquo;I was pleased to work with him on critical issues, like pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement and prioritizing the cleanup of Superfund sites.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Pruitt also took moves to limit the EPA&rsquo;s oversight powers following years of complaints from Republicans that the agency had overreached in its regulations, including a June decision to restrict the agency&rsquo;s ability to block permits issued to real-estate, mining, and other developers to dump waste into waterways.</p>
<p>
As head of the EPA, he also acted as a lightning rod for criticism that took some of the pressure off Trump. ;</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>Taking Pruitt&rsquo;s place (for now) is EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the coal industry who will likely continue Pruitt&rsquo;s efforts to establish the EPA as an agency that seeks to protect the environment without stifling business investment or opportunity. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I am both humbled and honored to take on this new responsibility at the same agency where I started my career over 25 years ago,&rdquo; said Wheeler. ;</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> Pruitt did the job he was meant to do, and became a lightning rod because of it. I&#8217;d say he deserves a round of applause.</p>