More Departures Roil EPA

Two of Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt's closest aides—senior counselor Sarah Greenwalt and scheduling director Millan Hupp—resigned Wednesday, sources tell CNN and other outlets. The two join a number of other political appointees who have left the agency, and ratchet up pressure on Pruitt, who is facing growing criticism over his management decisions, notes the Washington Post. Both aides had worked with Pruitt in Oklahoma, where he was attorney general.

Hupp had recently testified to the House Oversight Committee that she routinely performed personal chores for Pruitt, including house-hunting and inquiring about purchasing a used mattress from a Trump hotel, reports the Atlantic. One EPA official said Hupp quit because she was “tired of being thrown under the bus by Pruitt.” Pruitt has been plagued by scandals for months. Among them: renting a condo from a lobbyist for $50 a night, spending $43,000 in taxpayer funds on a soundproof phone booth for his office, and using his official position to try to get his wife a Chick-fil-A a franchise. (More Scott Pruitt stories.)