Senate Confirms Lee Zeldin To Lead President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency

The Senate confirmed former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in a bipartisan vote Wednesday afternoon to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Senators approved Zeldin’s nomination 56 to 42 with several Democrats, including Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, voting for the EPA nominee. Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Jon Ossoff of Georgia did not vote.

“He understands the stakes of environmental protection, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon prior to Zeldin’s confirmation vote. “But Mr. Zeldin also understands that the EPA can’t be a hammer in search of nails. EPA rules have to be balanced with the needs of our economy, our national security, and the American people.”

Zeldin pledged to protect the environment without imposing burdensome regulations on manufacturers and energy producers during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Jan. 16.

“The EPA must also be better stewards of tax dollars, honor cooperative federalism, and be transparent and accountable to Congress and the public,” Zeldin said during his opening remarks at the confirmation hearing. “A big part of this will require building private sector collaboration to promote common sense, smart regulation that will allow American innovation to continue to lead the world.”

Zeldin also committed to address the nation’s worsening grid reliability crisis, exacerbated in part by the Biden administration’s stringent environmental regulations, during his leadership over the agency.

The former GOP congressman will likely attempt to roll back various EPA regulations set under former President Joe Biden that have been sharply criticized by Trump and Republican lawmakers, including regulations on coal and natural-gas fired power plants and rules that imposed stringent air pollution standards for particulate matter.

Zeldin also promised to probe the agency’s disbursal of Inflation Reduction Act funding during the hearing. The Biden EPA notably transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in IRA funding to left-wing nonprofit groups.

Zeldin served four terms in the House and ran against New York Governor Kathy Hochul during the state’s 2022 gubernatorial race. Zeldin came within roughly 7 points of defeating Hochul in a traditionally deep-blue state.

He cleared the Senate EPW Committee 11 to 8 on Jan. 23 with Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona joining GOP senators to vote in favor of his nomination.

The Senate is slated to consider former Republican North Dakota governor Doug Burgum’s nomination to serve as Trump’s Department of Interior secretary next.

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