EPA’s secure phone booth broke the law

The EPA violated the law when it installed a soundproof phone booth for the administrator, Scott Pruitt, at a cost of roughly $43,000.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency violated the law when it installed a soundproof phone booth for the administrator, Scott Pruitt, at a cost of roughly $43,000, a congressional watchdog agency ruled Monday.

The congressional agency, the Government Accountability Office, said in a report that the EPA had not notified Congress as required before spending more than $5,000 on office equipment.

In a separate report Monday, the EPA’s inspector general published records showing that Pruitt’s chief of staff signed off on hires and thousands of dollars in raises for political appointees under a provision of a clean water law. That report was part of an ongoing audit of salaries and hiring practices at the agency.

The EPA said the secure phone booth was necessary “to make and receive phone calls and to discuss sensitive information, including classified telephone calls up to the top secret level.” The agency paid about $24,000 for the phone booth and more than $20,000 to install a drop ceiling, remove closed-circuit television equipment and pour concrete around the booth, according to agency contracts.

The GAO said it was not taking a position on whether or not the installation of the privacy booth was necessary, but was focusing only on the violations of two laws: the Antideficiency Act, which is designed to prevent spending that has not been budgeted, and the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which limits the amount political appointees may spend on office item to $5,000.

In an eight-page letter to lawmakers, Thomas H. Armstrong, the GAO’s general counsel, said the agency did not send advance notice to Congress when it paid $43,238.68 from its Environmental Programs and Management budget to pay for the installation of the soundproof booth.

Sen. Tom Udall, DN.M., who requested the investigation along with three other members of Congress, said Pruitt was “blatantly breaking laws and ethics rules that protect taxpayers from government waste, fraud and abuse in order to help himself to perks and special favors.”

Liz Bowman, a spokeswoman for the EPA, said in a statement, “EPA is addressing GAO’s concern, with regard to congressional notification about this expense, and will be sending Congress the necessary information this week.”

The GAO report noted that federal laws would not have blocked EPA from purchasing the phone booth.