"Government Watchdog To Launch Probe Into EPA’s Hiring Practices"

"A government watchdog agency has agreed to a request from Democratic senators to open an inquiry into whether the Environmental Protection Agency circumvented the Trump administration’s own ethics rules when hiring certain agency employees.

In August, two lawmakers, Sens. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), asked the Government Accountability Office to launch the probe. Both Democrats serve on the Senate Environment Committee, which oversees the EPA.

GAO spokesman Chuck Young confirmed that the agency will launch the inquiry but said 'work won’t start for a few months.'"

Dino Grandoni reports for the Washington Post September 8, 2017.