The RNLA was pleased to present Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt with the 2018 Ed Meese Award at its National Policy Conference on Friday:
Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, for whom the award is named, stated: “Scott Pruitt is
an outstanding public servant who has rendered extraordinary service first to the state of Oklahoma
and now to the entire nation. His accomplishment in common-sense environmentalism is an example
for all who are truly interested in conservation of resources and quality of life.”
RNLA First Vice President Manuel E. Iglesias, who will interview Administrator Pruitt after giving him
the award, said: “Scott Pruitt has led the effort to restore the rule of law at the EPA, fighting to enforce
existing laws while not enacting new regulations that will hurt hardworking Americans with little effect
on the environment. While being constantly attacked by Democrats, liberals, and the media, he has
been steadfast in his defense of transparency, regulatory reform, agency efficiency, due process, and
cooperative federalism."
Administrator Pruitt was selected for his hard work to restore the rule of law to the Environmental
Protection Agency under President Trump and his efforts to defend the rule of law and protect the
role of states in our federalist system as the former Attorney General of Oklahoma. Administrator
Pruitt has returned the EPA to its statutory mandates and limits, working tirelessly to undo the extralegal
practices of the Obama Administration while under constant attack from the left.
Administrator Pruitt's discussion with RNLA First Vice President Manuel Iglesias may be viewed here. He emphasized the actions he has taken to restore the rule of law to the EPA and how clear rules will encourage a cleaner environment:
At a Republican National Lawyers Association meeting on Friday, Pruitt laid out what he hoped to accomplish at EPA in 2019. First, Pruitt mentioned finalizing the repeal of major Obama-era regulations.
“I anticipate the proposed redefining of ‘waters of the United States’ will come out here very soon, and we will finalize that by the end of the year,” Pruitt said at the event where he accepted an award. . . . In the upcoming year, Pruitt would also focus on less high-profile reforms to EPA’s permitting and reporting processes, he also told Republican lawyers.
“Just to give you one example, when I came in I asked the question of our team, ‘how long does it take us to go through the permitting process,'” Pruitt said. “And it wasn’t even measured. We didn’t even know.”
EPA has been developing a process “where the agency is going to be able to make a decision, up or down, on a permit within six months by the end of the year,” Pruitt added.
Congratulations to Administrator Pruitt on receiving the 2018 Ed Meese Award, and thank you for your efforts to protect the rule of law.
Today, Politico profiled 2017 Ed Meese Award winner Don McGahn's important work as White House Counsel to President Trump:
McGahn’s . . . office of roughly 26 attorneys provides the administration with the intellectual underpinning for its most significant decisions, including the military strikes in Syria, the legality of the travel bans and immigration executive orders, the vetting of political appointees and the policing of conflicts of interest. . . .
McGahn's friends and fellow lawyers say he’s well-equipped to play a leading role as a trusted legal and political adviser.
“McGahn is involved in everything. I am not exaggerating,” said longtime friend Randy Evans, [former] chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association. “When you prove to be a reliable voice, who not only gives good legal answers but also good political ones, that is increasingly what happens. You get called on more and more.” . . .
On hiring, McGahn must approve every lawyer within each agency’s general counsel’s office, down to the most junior member. . . . Outside the executive branch, McGahn is moving to radically reshape the entire judicial system by hand selecting over 100 judges to fill lower court vacancies. . . . McGahn also shepherded Neil Gorsuch through the Supreme Court confirmation process, one of the longest-lasting policy moves a president can make and one of the few highlights of Trump’s first 100 days in office. . . . He’s also taken a leading role in pushing the administration’s efforts to examine and trim back the federal government’s broad array of regulations, according to Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, who took a leave to advise Trump on the Supreme Court and worked closely with McGahn on the confirmation fight. “Every White House counsel has enormous influence, and Don McGahn is no exception to that,” Leo said.
Thank you, Don McGahn, for your important work serving President Trump and the country as White House Counsel. You can watch Mr. McGahn's remarks from the 2017 National Policy Conference upon receiving the Ed Meese Award here (beginning at 35:25).
