Washington (CNN)A top aide to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is resigning.
Samantha Dravis, the associate administrator of the EPA's office of policy, is considered to be one of the aides closest to Pruitt and has been responsible in the last year for carrying out much of the agency's deregulation agenda that has been so controversial.
"It has been an honor to serve in this role at EPA, and I am enormously grateful for the opportunity," Dravis said in a statement to CNN. "I wish Administrator Pruitt and all of the public servants at EPA the very best."
The resignation news comes during a tough week for Pruitt in the wake of recent reports that he rented a $50-a-night room from a lobbyist who was actively lobbying the EPA.
A source familiar with the decision said Dravis resigned because she wanted to work in the private sector. She formally gave verbal notice last Tuesday, and sent her written notice last Thursday, the source said.
The source told CNN that the resignation does not have to do with recent headlines about Pruitt and had been considered for several months.
Before joining EPA, Dravis was president of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a group affiliated with the Republican Attorneys General Association. She also worked an associate director of political affairs in the George W. Bush White House, according to her EPA bio.
Dravis' resignation was earlier reported by Politico.
This story has been updated.
