The Note: Swamp could save Pruitt

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The TAKE with Rick Klein

The waters of the swamp are rising around Scott Pruitt. Yet the EPA administrator might yet get carried to safety.

Pruitt is the latest Cabinet member stuck in a curious kind of limbo – wedged in between competing priorities of President Donald Trump.

He’s enmeshed in a widening, worsening, and weird ethics cloud, with few Republicans rushing to defend him, and a president who’s in a firing mood. Yet he’s also marching forward with the Trump agenda, rolling back car-emission regulations promulgated under President Barack Obama just this week.

The president said Tuesday of Pruitt, “I hope he’s going to be great.”

It might be read as a warning to Pruitt. But ultimately it’s Trump who needs to decide whether his “drain the swamp” pledges outweigh his regulatory agenda – and any personal rapport between the two men.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

After 15 months in office, President Trump has not been able to physically change the U.S.-Mexico border as much as he would like and that seems to be upsetting him.

Although the Department of Homeland Security says illegal crossings have plunged to some of the lowest levels in 40 years, the president is anxious to do more and is frustrated Congress has not given him a green light.

First, he thought about using Pentagon funds to build his wall, but that’s not how federal funding works. So now he says he plans to use soldiers to secure the border.

At first blush that seem monumental, but it is unclear what exactly the president means. The bold image he may be picturing is just not allowed under federal law.

While members of the U.S. military – especially the National Guard – can be used to support U.S. border patrol agents (both Presidents Obama and Bush sent thousands to do that), they cannot be used to arrest and detain.

From his off-the-cuff lines about pulling out of Syria, setting up meetings with foreign leaders, arming teachers in schools, or now this, the country and the world is once again left unsure about whether to take this president and his loose language seriously at all.

The TIP with Stephanie Ebbs

The Interior Department and National Park Service are scaling back a proposal to increase fees at some of the most popular national parks. The proposal would have more than doubled entrance fees in some parks to as much as $70.

But after the vast majority of public comments opposed the proposal, the department confirms it’s looking at a more moderate increase.

The higher fees would have generated more income for the Park Service to address a major backlog of maintenance at national parks but Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is now working with Congress to garner support for legislative proposals to provide more funding for maintenance.

“During the public comment period the National Park Service received more than 109,000 comments on the original peak-season fee proposal,” Interior spokesperson Heather Swift said in a statement. “We've taken the public's suggestions seriously and have amended the plan to reflect those. The Secretary remains laser-focused on rebuilding our park infrastructure and this plan coupled with the bipartisan bill in congress will provide a historic investment."

The Washington Post first reported this decision this week.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’m dumbfounded that that’s controversial.” – EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in an interview with the Washington Examiner regarding the controversy over his living arrangements at a D.C. townhouse owned by lobbyists.

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The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.