GOP Sen. John Kennedy to Scott Pruitt: ‘Stop leading with your chin’

Sen. John Kennedy on Sunday said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt should “stop leading with your chin” and that Mr. Pruitt needs to cut out “stupid” “unforced errors” amid recently reported ethical lapses.

“I would say ethics matter, impropriety matters, the appearance of impropriety matters,” Mr. Kennedy, Louisiana Republican, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“To the extent that you are, stop acting like a chucklehead, stop the unforced error[s], stop leading with your chin,” he said.

“If you don’t need to fly first class don’t. Don’t turn on the siren on your SUV just to watch people move over — you represent the president of the United States,” Mr. Kennedy said, calling Mr. Pruitt’s reported recent behavior a “juvenile” distraction.

Mr. Pruitt is under fire amid recent reports on his spending on travel and security and a $50-per-night Capitol Hill condominium he’s rented from the wife of an energy lobbyist.

Mr. Kennedy said Mr. Pruitt should hold a press conference to address the criticisms he thinks might be unfair.

The senator said some, but not all, of the incoming fire could be be politically motivated.

“In his position, why do you want to rent an apartment from a lobbyist for God’s sake?” he said. “Stop leading with your chin. Now these are unforced errors. They are stupid. There are a lot of problems we can’t solve. But you can behave.”

President Trump voiced some support for Mr. Pruitt on Saturday, saying he’s doing a “great job,” and that the rent was “about market rate” and travel expenses were “OK.”

“While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA,” the president said on Twitter. “Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars.”