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Watch to learn more about #PollutingPruitt. Then make your voice heard: 866-347-8815. https://t.co/DlF30KnNHf cc: @fisherstevensbk

— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) February 16, 2017

Republicans, though, have stood by Pruitt. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., congratulated him on the nomination and immediately offered his support.

“The EPA is the poster child for agencies in need of immediate reform and Scott has the resume and energy to turn this bureaucracy around,” he wrote in a statement. “I’m confident he will work to find reasonable solutions rather than simply working to grow the reach and power of the federal bureaucracy.”

But nearly 450 former EPA officials wrote to Congress last week urging Senators to vote against Pruitt today.

In the letter, the former government officials wrote, in part, “every EPA Administrator has a fundamental obligation to act in the public’s interest based on current law and the best available science. Mr. Pruitt’s record raises serious questions about whose interests he has served to date and whether he agrees with the longstanding tenets of U.S. environmental law.”

\"PHOTO:
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
PHOTO: In this Jan. 18, 2017, file photo, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator nominee Scott Pruitt testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.
>

Even current employees at the EPA have been protesting his nomination, with the union president of the American Federation of Government Employees National Council of EPA Locals No. 238 telling ABC News he is bracing for large-scale budget rollbacks.

For Pruitt's part, he praised the work of agency staff in his prepared opening remarks at the confirmation hearing.

“It will be my absolute privilege to work with the thousands of dedicated public servants at EPA who have devoted their careers to helping realize this shared goal,” he said.

“I’ve always said that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life, and I know those who work at EPA do so because of their tireless dedication to what they do.”

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