Article snippet: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated the law with its approval to pay for a secure soundproof booth in Administrator MORE's personal office, a federal watchdog said on Monday. A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that Pruitt's $43,000 "privacy booth" was in violation of Congress's governmentwide spending law passed last year, which caps office redecorations and refurnishings at $5,000 without prior notice to lawmakers. In a letter sent to four Democratic lawmakers who requested the GAO investigation, the watchdog said that because the EPA approved the booth's construction without congressional approval, the agency was also in violation of the Antideficiency Act, which stipulates that an agency can't use money that is not appropriated to it. The GAO, in its report, noted the EPA's breakdown of the costs for the booth. Those costs included $24,570 for purchase, delivery and assembly, nearly $3,500 for concrete floor leveling, almost $3,400 for the construction of a drop ceiling, $3,350 for wall painting, and more than $500 for removal of cable wiring. Roughly $8,000 was spent on the removal of closed circuit television equipment already installed in Pruitt's office. Nevertheless, the watchdog found that the EPA violated this statutory requirement and directed the EPA to report its violation to Congress and the president "as required by law." The EPA’s top GOP overseer in the Senate demanded that the EPA explain its actions pu... Link to the full article to read more