President-elect Donald Trump on Monday named former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as he continues to build out his future administration with loyal supporters.
Zeldin, a Republican who mounted a failed bid for governor of New York in 2022, will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses,'' Trump said in a statement. Zeldin also will maintain "the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,'' Trump said.
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Trump's statement misidentified the name of the agency Zeldin was picked to lead, labeling it the Environmental Protective Agency.
Zeldin, who left Congress in January 2023, was a surprising pick for the role. His public appearances both in his own campaigns and on behalf of Trump often had him speaking about issues such as the military, national security, antisemitism, U.S.-Israel relations, immigration and crime.
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He was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. While in Congress, he did not serve on committees with oversight of environmental policy and had a lifetime score of 14% from the League of Conservation Voters during his eight years in Congress.
In the 2022 governor’s race, Zeldin vowed to reverse a fracking ban imposed by Democrats.
In an interview Monday on Fox News Channel, Zeldin, 44, said that he will seek to ensure that the United States is able to "pursue energy dominance … bring back American jobs to the auto industry and so much more.''
He's excited to implement Trump’s economic agenda, Zeldin said, adding: "I think the American people are so hungry for it. It’s one of the big reasons why they’re sending him back to the White House.”
In 2016 Zeldin pushed to change the designation of about 150 square miles of federal waters in Long Island Sound to state jurisdiction for New York and Rhode Island. He wanted to open the area to striped bass fishing.
Zeldin said at the time that he wanted to restore local control and common sense to fishery management. He later pushed to allow striped bass fishing in an amendment to a federal spending bill. Environmental groups criticized the amendment, which they said risked overfishing in the area.
Trump often pointed to Zeldin’s performance in the 2022 gubernatorial race, when the Republican did far better than had been expected against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. While Trump didn’t win New York state in last week's election, he did far better than he had during previous elections, particularly in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
New York Republican chair Ed Cox said Zeldin's surprise appointment was "a testament to President Trump’s commitment to revitalizing the original mission of the EPA — an agency created … under President Richard Nixon to protect our nation’s environment.''
The announcement came after Trump selected longtime adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, to be the deputy chief of policy in his new administration and named Rep. Elise Stefanik as his nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
