Pruitt’s $43,000 Secure Phone Booth Is Found to Break Spending Laws
- Agency head ordered phone room for his Washington office
- Government Accountability Office issues report on spending
Scott Pruitt
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Environmental Protection Agency violated spending laws by installing a $43,000 secure "privacy booth" in the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Government Accountability Office has concluded.
The expenditure violated the Antideficiency Act because it "obligated appropriated funds in a manner specifically prohibited by law," the GAO said in a report made public Monday. It also ran afoul of law requiring advance congressional notification for expenditures of more than $5,000 for improvements to an agency head’s office, according to the government auditors.