More staffers are leaving the Environmental Protection Agency following the recent resignation of Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the agency. And the latest, according to national reports, were forced out by the White House because of their loyalty to Pruitt, the former Oklahoma Attorney General. In other words, they got the boot.
The latest report is from the Daily Beast which quoted an administration official as calling it a “purge” of Pruitt loyalists. The website indicated White House Chief of Staff John Kelly gave the go-ahead to remove three officials after Pruitt’s resignation earlier in the month.
One was Lincoln Ferguson who had planned to leave anyway. But the Daily Beast indicated his departure was speeded up by senior Trump aide Johnny DeStefano.
Another who was asked to leave was Jahan Wilcox, a Senior EPA communications adviser. Haley Ford, the EPA’s deputy White House liaison was also told to leave.
Senior EPA communications adviser Jahan Wilcox, who frequently clashed with the press and served as a top enforcer for his chronically embattled former boss, was also asked to tender his resignation at PPO’s request. Hayley Ford, the EPA’s deputy White House liaison, was also pushed out this month following Pruitt’s ouster.
In their time working at Pruitt’s side, Ford and Wilcox had gained a reputation within the West Wing as people who absolutely “had to go” once Pruitt finally left the Trump administration, a White House source said. Another official familiar with the post-Pruitt “purge” added that Ford had been “escorted out” of the federal agency after she was axed.
