In an exchange with Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., Pruitt said that it has not be certified as a SCIF, or a sensitive compartmented information facility, but he said it does provide protection on confidential communications. The purchase, Pruitt said, occurred after he received a phone call of a sensitive nature and did not have access to secure communications. He said he hadn’t heard the price tag in advance, and if he had, he would have “refused it.”

Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., told Pruitt the phone booth was a “waste of funds.”

“Isn’t there other secure locations within your agency? Why did we need to spend taxpayer funds to build a new secure place for making telephone calls?” Lance said. “There are already secure locations and I think it was a waste of funds.”

Added Costello, “I believe you’ve demonstrated, or you’ve not demonstrated, the requisite degree of judgment required of an appointed executive branch official on some of these spending items.”

Still, many Republicans defended the embattled administrator. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Ohio, said that it’s “shameful” that the hearing had turned into a “personal attack” against Pruitt, while Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said that Pruitt is not the “first person to be a victim” of Washington politics.

Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., praised Pruitt’s record as EPA chief so far, arguing that the “greatest sin” that he has committed is fulfilling Trump’s agenda to roll back environmental regulations.