DONALD WHO?:

White House political appointees are clashing with U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

Staffers installed on the Trump administration's "beachhead team" at EPA have been at odds with the agency's new chief since Pruitt and his aides arrived at headquarters last month.

The internal conflicts at EPA have already resulted in one high-profile departure, and the White House's liaison to the agency has been shut out of meetings by Pruitt, The Washington Post reported yesterday.

One source who's in touch with political employees at EPA said "things are a mess" at that agency, citing infighting among top political officials.

EPA isn't the only agency facing internal strife. The Post reported that senior White House aides in agencies across government have been tasked with "monitoring the secretaries' loyalty." Those aides report to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn, a former aide to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and a former Energy Department official during the George W. Bush administration. [...]

Last week, former Trump political appointee David Schnare resigned from his job on EPA's beachhead team. Schnare told E&E News last week that he stepped down as a result of the "misuse of federal funds, failure to honor oaths of office, and a lack of loyalty to the President".

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