Report: EPA Head Scott Pruitt’s Security Expenses Hit $3 Million

Just over a year into his job as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, security costs for Scott Pruitt have so far totaled about $3 million, the Associated Press reports, citing an EPA official. Pruitt, who has been under fire recently for what critics say is lavish spending of taxpayer money, was given a 20-member full-time security detail that is more than three times the size of that of his predecessor. Some of the millions of dollars spent on Pruitt’s security detail were reportedly incurred while he was on a family vacation, with his 24-hour security coverage reportedly requiring investigators to abandon their field work duties. EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said late Friday that an “unprecedented” amount of death threats against Pruitt is behind the sky-high security costs. According to the Associated Press, however, there are no state or federal court records to indicate that any individuals have been arrested or charged with making threats to the EPA head.