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Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is among the group of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominees. | Getty

The controversy around Pruitt's contacts with oil, natural gas and coal companies has given Democrats a rallying point.

By Alex Guilln

02/17/17 11:16 AM EST

Updated 02/17/17 01:23 PM EST

The Senate confirmed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Friday, installing one of the agency's fiercest critics as the nation's leading environmental regulator just hours after an Oklahoma judge ordered the release of his email conversations with oil, gas and coal groups.

On the eve of his confirmation, the state judge ordered Pruitt's office release the potentially thousands of emails relating to the energy companies he will soon be regulating but not until Tuesday, days after his confirmation vote.

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Pruitt is among the group of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominees, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. And like those others tapped by Trump, Pruitt's nomination is likely to narrowly pass in the Senate with the help of a pair of Democrats.

The controversy around Pruitt's contacts with oil, natural gas and coal companies has given Democrats a rallying point to call for a delay of his final vote on the Senate floor, but which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has insisted will take place Friday.

This is an egregious cover-up that must not stand, said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who is planning to ask for another 10 days of debate on Pruitt a move that's almost certain to be rejected.

It's not clear whether Pruitts unreleased emails contain any damaging surprises, particularly since his ties to the oil and gas industry are well known. But Democrats already incensed that Pruitt had told them to go through the public records request process if they wanted his emails or other documents from his time as attorney general were apoplectic Thursday night when GOP leaders said Pruitts vote would take place Friday as scheduled.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) called the Pruitt vote an epic ram job, and said Pruitt himself is the tool and the minion of the fossil fuel industry.

Given Pruitts industry ties, I dont see any way his tenure at the Environmental Protection Agency ends well, Whitehouse said. Time will tell and facts will [come] out, but I believe our Republican friends will rue the day that they had this nomination rammed through the Senate on the very day that the emails were being litigated in Oklahoma, in order to get ahead of any counterpressure.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who led a boycott of Pruitt earlier this month before the Environment and Public Works Committee, warned that Republicans could be tying themselves to a time bomb.

Sometime a week from now, maybe days from now my fear is that a number of members, especially on the other side, will have been put in a very bad position and asked to vote for a nominee that they otherwise may not have supported had they known, Carper told reporters shortly before the judge ordered the emails released.

Republican leadership, with 52 votes secured to approve Pruitt, including Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, have no plans to change course on confirming him.

Despite Democrat efforts to delay his confirmation vote, we need to be responsible and move forward to confirm Attorney General Pruitt, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said on the Senate floor shortly before the judges order came down. The longer we postpone this vote, the longer it is going to take for things to get done at the EPA, which will not help anyone.

Speaking on the floor Friday morning, McConnell said Democrats have engaged in truly historic, unprecedented and harmful obstruction over Pruitt and other candidates.

Democrats obstruction has just kept many of our nations most critical agencies without a leader for too long needlessly delaying the president from fully standing up this new administration, he said.

Whitehouse argued that prior to the election, Republicans had a fixation with emails, particularly Hillary Clinton's, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists' message on climate change and the Obama administration's EPA administrators.

They were desperate for emails. But now, suddenly emails between a nominees office and the major players in the industry that he will be regulating as EPA administrator, all they do is look at the ceiling tiles, he said.

The judge who ordered the emails released, Aletia Haynes Timmons, said the two-year delay in releasing emails sought by the left-leaning watchdog Center for Media and Democracy was an abject failure to provide prompt and reasonable access to documents by Pruitts office. Pruitts lawyers had argued that his office processes requests in the order they are filed, indicating at least a two-year backlog.

She ordered Pruitt's office turn over up to 2,500 emails that are in dispute in CMD's oldest request, and said any documents thought to be privileged be brought to her for review by close of business Tuesday.

Timmons also ordered Pruitts office to release emails responsive to five more records requests filed by CMD before Pruitt was nominated to run EPA within 10 days.

The Office of Attorney General remains committed to following the letter and spirit of the Open Records Act, Pruitt spokesman Lincoln Ferguson said in a statement. In light of that, we are reviewing all of our options in order to ensure fairness to all requestors rather than elevating the importance of some requests over others.

Pruitts coordination with oil and gas companies is already well known since a 2014 New York Times story that detailed his secretive alliance with fossil fuel interests to combat Obama administration rules. Pruitt defended that alliance as in the best interest of Oklahomans who live in one of the biggest oil- and gas-producing states.

He also belonged to groups, including the Republican Attorneys General Association, that received major contributions from energy interests, although Pruitt denied ever soliciting the donations himself.

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Democrats: GOP will 'rue the day' it pushed Pruitt vote for EPA - Politico

Democrats look to exploit Trump's troubles Sacramento Bee The president's tumultuous first four weeks in the White House highlighted by the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and renewed questions about the Trump campaign's connections to the Russian government have given Democrats ... and more »

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Democrats look to exploit Trump's troubles - Sacramento Bee

WASHINGTON President Donald Trumps fine-tuned machine of a presidency is already off to a better start than any other.

Reports that his campaign was in continuous contact with the foreign government that actively helped him get elected are fake news.

And any perception that things arent going swimmingly are the fault of dishonest reporters, Senate Democrats and federal judges.

Thats the world according to Trump, who staged a 77-minute news conference Thursday that was equal parts petulant, combative and downright incoherent his second chaotic question-and-answer session in as many days and his first solo news conference since taking office Jan. 20. The performance may have been enough to scare off his pick to replace Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

The press has become so dishonest that if we dont talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people, Trump said, reading from prepared text prior to taking questions. Tremendous disservice. We have to talk to find out whats going on, because the press honestly is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control.

Trump lashed out at news outlets for reporting that several of his campaign aides were contacting Russian intelligence agencies while those agencies were working to hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and help Trump win but danced around direct questions about whether he knew of such contacts.

When asked for a yes or no answer, Trump answered: Russia is a ruse. Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Havent made a phone call to Russia in years. Dont speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldnt. I just have nobody to speak to.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

He blamed an increase in anti-Semitic acts since his election not on his supporters but on those on the other side who want to make his supporters look bad, and he angrily shut down a Jewish reporter for trying to follow up on that topic: Quiet. Quiet. Quiet.

He suggested to an African-American reporter that she set up a meeting between him and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. He re-litigated, for reasons that remain unclear, one of his favorite campaign points: that Clinton had received questions in advance of a debate during the Democratic primaries last year.

And, as is typical with Trump, he maintained a loose grasp on actual facts.

At one point, for example, he claimed he had won the largest Electoral College victory since Ronald Reagan. In reality, his was third smallest margin since Reagans re-election, better than only George W. Bushs two wins. Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama won a total of five elections with more electoral votes than Trump.

When this was pointed out to him, Trump claimed: Well, I dont know, I was given that information. I was given I actually, Ive seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory, do you agree with that?

Trumps poll numbers have been sinking since taking office, with his approval number falling into the 30s in a new Pew Research survey released Thursday.

Throughout his campaign, Trump was fixated on his poll numbers, which offers a possible rationale for the hastily called news conference. It had not been on any schedule released to the press this week, and it was announced by Trump himself late Thursday morning.

Trump cited a different poll the historically Republican-friendly Rasmussen survey, which showed Trump at 55 percent approval (but among likely voters for an election 45 months away) and then went on to describe how well he has been doing.

This last month has represented an unprecedented degree of action on behalf of the great citizens of our country. Again, I say it: There has never been a presidency thats done so much in such a short period of time, Trump said.

He then blamed the chaotic implementation of his executive order banning travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations which was written almost entirely within the White House with little input from the agencies that would be tasked with enforcing it on a federal judge in Washington state who blocked it and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California, which has upheld the block.

That circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil, Trump said. Let me tell you about the travel ban. We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban. But we had a bad court.

And if there were any problems in getting his own agencies up to speed, he said, that was the fault of the Democrats in the Senate, who have objected to most of his Cabinet appointments, including Andy Puzder, Trumps initial pick for labor secretary, who withdrew Wednesday. Trump nominated Alexander Acosta for the labor post on Thursday.

This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I cant get my Cabinet approved, Trump said, adding later: So, if the Democrats who have all you have to do is look at where they are right now. The only thing they can do is delay because they screwed things up royally, believe me.

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Trump Blames Media, Judges, Democrats In Chaos Theory Tour-De-Force - Huffington Post

David Hayford, For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin 3:22 p.m. CT Feb. 16, 2017

David Hayford(Photo: file)

We are a few weeks into the Trump presidency. The president is running the country through executive orders. Sort of like he ran his businesses. Doing things he promised in his campaign. And not yet acting presidential. Can anyone be surprised?

The Senate is struggling to approve the presidents cabinet appointees. Unlike eightyears ago, the opposition party is fighting the presidents choices. The Democratic senators are generally behaving like petulant 6-year-olds (with an apology to my 6-year-old grandson who is much better behaved). They have obviously forgotten President Obamas admonition that: Elections have consequences.

The Democrats nominated an abysmal presidential candidate who ran an inept campaignand managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Deal with it.

The Supreme Court nomination process should be another battle royale. Democrats attacked Republicans last year for not giving Judge Merrick Garland a hearing. Yet now Sen.Tammy Baldwin and other Democrats have vowed to vote against Judge Neil Gorsuch before any hearing. Hypocrisy? Petulance? Just politics as usual? Or all three?

I have no idea what the House of Representatives has been doing since Jan.20. Oops, heard last night that a House committee will hold hearings to investigate Kellyanne Conways comments on television about Ivanka Trumps clothing line. Really? It was a stupid mistake on her part, and she has been counseled. What is a House investigation going to accomplish, except give bloviating congressmen air time to weigh in on the ethics violation. The House should be dealing with important issues.

The Trump travel ban is tied up in the courts. The state of Washington claims that it discriminates against Muslims. Who has been making the terrorist attacks in this county since 9/11? Radical Islamist terrorists. Makes sense to target them. If Roman Catholic immigrants from the Vatican begin making terrorist attacks in the United States, the focus can shift.

But Trump is absolutely wrong to question the integrity of the judges involved.

Women marched in D.C. and other cities last month to protest Trumps sexist views of women. The tape of Trumps comments came out before the election. How many of the marchers acted then to volunteer for Clintons campaign to help get out the vote to defeat Trump. Obviously, not enough. A march after his inauguration is too little and too late.

Also, Bill Clinton was the same immoral, sexist pig as Trump is. There were no marches in January1993. I have seen attempts by some women to rationalize that Trumps views are more egregious than Bill Clintons actions. Seems to me the big difference is that Clinton is a Democrat. Evidently, they are held to much lower moral standards.

At the recent Prayer Breakfast, Trumpominouslypromised to get rid of the Johnson Amendment. That is a provision of the tax code, dating back to 1954, that prohibits tax-exempt entities [501(c) (3)] such as churches and charitable organizations from participating in political campaigns for or against candidates. It is sound policy. Donations to such organizations are tax deductible, subsidized by the taxpayers.

Political donations to candidates campaign committees or PACs are not tax deductible. There is more than enough unaccountable money pouring into politics, especially since the Citizens United decision. We do not need more.

If the Johnson Amendment is abolished, George Soros, for example, could start his own church. Continue to spend millions to spew his liberal agenda, and get a tax deduction to boot. Then his church could funnel themoney to candidates and PACs. Pretty sweet deal.

Fortunately, Trump cannot change that through executive order.

The next four years should be exciting. Trump governing, Congress dithering, Democrats protesting and/or rioting. Elections have consequences. And so it goes.

David A. Hayford has been sharing his insights on the editorial pages of The Northwestern for more thanthree decades. He is a self-described pundit (check the definition). And,since his 70th birthday, hehas assumed the role of curmudgeon. He livesin the town of Oshkosh with wife Paula and dog Rufus.

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Columnist to Democrats on loss: Deal with it - The Oshkosh Northwestern

President Trumps nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel faced tough questioning from Democrats at his confirmation hearing Thursday about everything from past controversial comments to his stance on the so-called two-state solution.

The heated hearing captured an intense debate playing out over his nomination, in editorial pages and newspaper ads across the country. David Friedman is the latest Trump nominee targeted by Democrats, after they helped pressure labor secretary pick Andrew Puzder to withdraw from consideration on Wednesday.

Frankly, the language you have regularly used against those who disagree with your views has me concerned about your preparedness to enter the world of diplomacy,Ranking Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland told Friedman on Thursday.

The bankruptcy lawyer was not only grilled by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but heckled by pro-Palestinian protesters.

He showed contrition, though, about some of his past remarks -- specifically having called supporters of the liberal Jewish lobbying firm J Street worse than "kapos,"a term typically used to describe Jews who worked with Nazis in concentration camps.

There is no excuse. If you want me to rationalize it or justify it, I cannot. These were hurtful words and I deeply regret them. They are not reflective of my nature or my character, Friedman said Thursday.

On Wednesday, J Street issued a statement asserting a possible apology will not at this stage in Mr. Friedmans career will change the fact that his views, his actions and his temperament should disqualify him.

The criticism, though, does not mean the nomination is in jeopardy.Republicans mostly asked Friedman about policy, and he was introduced by South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said despite disagreements on some issues he never doubted the nominee's commitment to Israel.

Republicans on the panel also praised Friedmans longstanding support of Israel. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio described Democrats relentless questions about his prior statements as unreal.

Democrats indeed directed their focus on Friedmans firebrand rhetoric, including describing Bill Clinton as more dangerous to the interests of Israel than any president since Eisenhower and arguing the Obama administration was more interested in fighting Republicans than terrorists.

Friedman said his comments were indefensible, but argued he recognizes there is an important difference between a political contest and a diplomatic mission.

The one-time lawyer to Trump was pressed about his public skepticism toward a two-state solution, in the context of remarks made by the president in his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Breaking away from longstanding U.S. policy, Trump said he was not wedded to the idea of separate Palestinian and Israeli states.

I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two. But honestly, if Bibi and if the Palestinians ... are happy, Im happy with the one they like the best, he said Wednesday.

In an interview with The New York Times, Trump declined to specifically address the issue. When pressed, Trump admitted to basically supporting the position.

Friedman has inspired an intense lobbying campaign that reflects deeper divisions within the Jewish community.

Working to support him, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the nations largest pro-Israel organization, took out full-page ads in several newspapers this week backing Friedman.

"This nomination cannot get bogged down in petty bickering or sour grapes over the results of the election. Trump is the President, Friedman is the nominee, and the Senate needs to let them do their jobs, CUFI Action Fund Washington Director Gary Bauer said in a statement.

The New York Times editorial board, meanwhile, predicted the confirmation of Friedman would provoke conflict in Israel and undermine American leadership in the Middle East.

In aletter, former ambassadors Thomas Pickering, William Harrop, Edward Walker, Daniel Kurtzer and James Cunningham maintained Friedmans extreme, radical positions made him unqualified to serve as ambassador.

A confirmation vote hasyet to bescheduled.

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Trump's Israel envoy pick faces off with Democrats, protesters - Fox News