Trump meets with Pruitt amid growing calls for resignation

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt reportedly met with President Trump on Friday to explain why he should remain in office amid mounting scrutiny over alleged ethics violations.

Pruitt met with Trump at the White House, where he touted his achievements at the helm of the agency, administration officials told The Associated Press.

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The EPA chief reportedly spoke of his efforts to deregulate, including the EPA’s recent move to rescind the Obama administration’s tough fuel economy standards for cars.

Democratic members of Congress including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) are now calling on Pruitt to resign in response to reports about an arrangement the EPA chief had to rent a Capitol Hill condo from a pair of lobbyists for $50 per night.

The meeting with the president on Friday comes as the White House is reportedly conducting an ethics review into the rental agreement as well as suspicious pay bumps for two EPA officials who are longtime aides of Pruitt.

Trump said this week that Pruitt is “doing a great job” in the post, despite being “TOTALLY under siege,” and denied reports that he would tap Pruitt to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions, with whom the president has often butted heads.