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Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on Sunday defended the administrations positions on climate change and ending domestic energy policies that he said the Obama administration just made up.

Pruitt tried to make clear his position, amid outcry from environmental activists, that humans indeed contribute to climate change.

"There's a warming trend, the climate is changing, and human activity contributes to that change in some measure," he told "Fox News Sunday." "The real issue is how much we contribute to it and measuring that with precision."

He also argued that Congress provides the EPA with the authority to make rules and that former President Obama overstepped that authority with his 2015 Clean Power Plan, which is now subject to a Supreme Court stay.

As much as we want to see progress made with clean air and clean water with an understanding we can also grow jobs, we have to do so within the framework of what Congress has passed, Pruitt said.

The past administration just made it up, they reimagined authority under the statute. Thats why President Trump is dealing with that regulatory overreach in charting a new path forward to deal with these issues within the framework of the Clean Air Act.

Trump last week signed an executive order to dismantle Obamas 2015 plan.

Pruitt had recently said that carbon emissions are not a primary contributor to climate change. He declined on Sunday to say whether Trump will pull out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement that limits carbon emissions worldwide, calling it a bad deal for the U.S. economy.

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EPA's Pruitt: Trump will end overreach, Obama 'made up' regulatory power - Fox News

Pete Souza, the chief White House photographer for former President Barack Obama, appeared to take a veiled shot at President Donald Trump Friday on the social media platform Instagram.

On Friday, Souza uploaded a picture of Obama practicing to throw the first pitch at the Washington Nationals 2010 home opener.

Seven years ago today, practicing to throw out the first pitch for the Washington Nationals home opener the following week, Souzas caption read.

The picture comes after the White House said last week that Trump declined the opportunity to do the same at the Nationals home opener this week.

The White House told the Washington Examiner that although the president was in talks with the team to give the ceremonial first pitch, ultimately scheduling conflicts got in the way. Presidents have been delivering the first pitch at Nationals games dating back to former President William Taft in 1910.

Still, liberals piled onto Trump this week after it was announced he would not throw the opening pitch. The American Prospect said Trump likely declined the invitation because he didnt want to be booed. Slate compiled 10 reasons why Trump probably decided, with the number 1 reason being that hes still upset about 1947 integration of the major leagues.

Surprisingly, though, the Washington Post noted that the outrage at Trump is overblown because even Obama declined to throw the opening pitch his inaugural year in 2009.

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Obama WH photographer takes veiled shot at Trump for the silliest of reasons - TheBlaze.com

President Trumps election appears to be negatively affecting gun sales in the U.S. and the bubble appears to be bursting despite a staunch advocate for gun rights in the White House and Republicans ruling Congress.

"President Obama was the best gun salesman the world has ever seen," Karl Sorken, a production manager at Battle Rifle Co. in Houston. Sorken is an Army veteran and self-described liberal who voted for Obama and notes the change for the industry under Trump is a topic of conversation in the shop.

Fears of government limits on guns -- some real, some perceived -- led to a surge in demand during Obama's tenure and manufacturers leapt to keep up. Over the decade ending in 2015, the number of U.S. companies licensed to make firearms jumped 362 percent.

"The trends really almost since Election Day or election night have been that gun sales have slacked off," said Robert Spitzer, political science department chairman at State University of New York at Cortland. "When you take away Barack Obama and you give the Republicans control of both houses of Congress, which is extremely friendly to the gun lobby, then the political pressure subsides. And that surely is at least a key part of the explanation for the drop-off in sales."

The Washington Post reported that the FBI conducted about 500,000 fewer background checks in December 2016 then in 2015. Gun sales this year have reportedly dropped about 17 percent.

From 2004 to 2013, sales of all handguns -- pistols and revolvers -- increased nearly fivefold, according to industry figures. Sales of rifles tripled in that timeframe.

Battle Rifle took shape in the middle of that surge, formed in 2010 after its founder Chris Kurzadkowski ventured into his garage to build his police officer son a rifle from scratch.

"Our forefathers realized what tyranny does and if you don't have a way to protect yourself from tyranny then you become a subject," said ammunition expert Jamey Spears, who spent five years in Texas law enforcement until he was shot during a raid on a Dallas crack house. The .45-caliber hollow point bullet that went through a gap in his body armor remains lodged next to his spine, a noticeable lump reminding him of how close he came to dying that day.

"I have nothing but the most heartfelt adoration for people who serve so others can be safe," he said.

One reason for the surge in manufacturers of AR-platform firearms -- called "modern sporting rifles" by the industry -- is that they are not protected by patents or trademarks. That makes it an open field for anyone with the proper federal license.

Another has been demand helped by a monied clientele. The majority of AR owners are overwhelmingly male, with half between the ages of 45 and 64, and more than half reporting annual income of more than $75,000, according to a 2013 survey conducted for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gunmakers.

Daniel Defense, a company based in Black Creek, Georgia, about 25 miles west of Savannah, capitalized on that growth. It began in 2000 by making parts for AR-style firearms. Last year, Daniel sold 60,000 complete weapons.

Founder Marty Daniel, who employs about 310 workers and is more than doubling his manufacturing facility's square footage, said he was prepared for the dips in sales and anticipates those will last through the year. But he considers the downturn part of a natural business cycle, like those that hit the housing market.

"There are some blips in there from time to time. And we're in one of those because Trump was elected," Daniel said. But, he says, "it's not gloom and doom."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Without Obama, once-booming gun industry poised to shrink - Fox News

Former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said his old boss, former President Barack Obama, is worried about a lack of progress in Washington D.C.

"[He's] viewing it from a distance, where he's writing a book, but I think that he's genuinely concerned," Earnest said on MSNBC on Friday.

Earnest said Obama sees the White House and the federal government as "as an institution that could be used to advance the interest of the American public," and a lack of forward movement is a concern, "not just for the former president of the United States but Americans of both parties across the country."

With regards to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes who has been accused of colluding with the White House on matters related to the committee's investigation of the Trump campaign and Russia Earnest said the current administration should be disturbed by how that meeting has been perceived.

Related: Obama Spokesman Disputes Trump's Wiretapping Claim

"For the White House, I do think they have to be concerned because it looks like they're trying to launder this information through the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Community again to try to exonerate or at least defend the tweets of the president of the United States," Earnest said.

The former press secretary said intelligence officials scrambling to prove the validity of a tweet should be of concern to the public.

"What's problematic for the American people is that you have senior intelligence officials on the National Security Council that are not pouring over intelligence reports trying to figure out how to keep the country safe they're poring over intelligence reports trying to figure out how they can defend an ultimately defenseless tweet that included a baseless accusation from the president of the United States," Earnest added.

He added that the Democrats aren't losing sleep over whether or not they should be working with moderate Republicans. Earnest cited the current president's unpopularity in suggesting he has no hold over the Democrats' decisions.

He said Democrats are waiting for Republicans to make the first move in reaching across the aisle to work with them.

"So are they going to be interested in trying to cooperate with Republicans to do the right thing for the country? They might be," Earnest said. "But that's going to have to start with Republicans actually showing a good faith effort to being interested in talking to Democrats."

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Obama Is 'Genuinely Concerned' About Lack of Progress in Washington: Earnest - NBCNews.com

The White House is asking Congress to dig deeper into whether communications of Trump associates were improperly picked up and disseminated during surveillance operations, after an ex-Obama administration official suggested her former colleagues tried to gather such material.

White House Counsel Don McGahn specifically cited Evelyn Farkas comments in a letter to the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee, as he invited lawmakers to view documents that apparently show surveillance of Trump associates during the transition.

The leaders of that committee have been openly and bitterly sparring over those documents, with top Democrat Adam Schiff, D-Calif., blasting Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., for viewing the files on White House grounds and unilaterally announcing their contents to the media. Schiff and others Democrats have demanded Nunes recuse himself from a related Russia investigation, but Trump allies have defended Nunes and say the real issue is improper surveillance during the prior administration.

'I had talked to some of my former colleagues and I knew that they were trying to also help get information to the Hill. Thats why you have the leaking.'

- Evelyn Farkas

McGahn moved to flip the script in his letter to Nunes and Schiff, pointing to Farkas comments as an indication of possible inappropriate accumulation or dissemination of classified information.

Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of defense under then-President Barack Obama, discussed collection efforts by her colleagues during a March 2 interview with MSNBC. During the interview, Farkas, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and MSNBC analyst, said she was urging former colleagues and people on the Hill to get as much information as you can, get as much intelligence as you can, before President Obama leaves the administration.

STRASSEL: DEM SPIN CAN'T HIDE EVIDENCE NUNES IS RIGHT

She said there were concerns that if Trump officials knew what they knew about Trump staff dealing with Russians, they would cut off access to the intelligence. She continued, I had talked to some of my former colleagues and I knew that they were trying to also help get information to the Hill. Thats why you have the leaking."

Farkas parted ways with the White House in 2015 and defended herself on Twitter, saying she didnt personally give anybody anything except advice on Russia information and wanted Congress to ask for facts.

She also told The Daily Caller she was not involved in circulating any intelligence, saying, I wasnt in government anymore and didnt have access to any.

But even if Farkas was not personally involved with any of the collection, McGahn asked the House committee to look at how such intelligence was gathered.

He asked them to probe whether there was any improper unmasking or distribution of intelligence, and whether civil liberties of U.S. citizens were violated.

He also asked whether the information Farkas referred to was provided to members of Congress or their staff.

The letter puts new pressure on the committee to investigate such collection and leaks, even as Democrats pressure Nunes to step away from an investigation looking at Russian meddling in last years campaign, including any Trump associate connections to Russia. Nunes has focused on issues like the improper unmasking of Americans in intelligence collection efforts, and Farkas comments are sure to fuel that line of inquiry.

David Bossie, a Fox News contributor who was Trumps deputy campaign manager, called Farkas comments devastating and said she should be subpoenaed by Congress.

Meanwhile, new information is coming to light about how Nunes obtained the information last week about apparent surveillance efforts. Fox News has confirmed that two White House staffers aided Nunes as he searched for proof that Trump transition team members were surveilled.

As first reported by The New York Times, the staffers were identified as Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a senior intelligence director at the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, who works for the White House counsels office.

Ellis used to work for the House Intelligence Committee. Cohen-Watnick is a protg of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, whose communications with the Russian ambassador were revealed earlier this year, leading to his resignation.

It appears the information about surveillance and unmasking was discovered by Cohen-Watnick on the Executive Branch computer system. After the information apparently made its way to the counsels office, Nunes came to the White House grounds to review it on March 21.

Fox News John Roberts contributed to this report.

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White House wants Congress to dig deeper on snooping after Obama official comments - Fox News