President-elect Donald Trump said that he would nominate former New York Republican congressman Lee Zeldin, a longtime opponent of climate regulation, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump made the announcement on Monday afternoon. The announcement comes as he has made numerous personnel announcements, including naming New York Representative Elise Stefanik as his ambassador to the United Nations and his campaign manager Susie Wiles as his White House Chief of Staff.
“He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said in a statement. “He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”
Zeldin represented Long Island in the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023 before he left to run for governor. During his time in Congress he frequently voted against environmental-friendly bills.
The congressman would go on to lose to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, but he overperformed in part thanks to his strong showing in Long Island and Hochul’s underperformance. His district voted for both Barack Obama and Trump and he was a relatively early supporter of the president-elect in 2016.
But a liberal website run by people in his old congressional district and called “Lee Zeldin Record” flagged how Zeldin frequently voted against legislation protect the environment - to the clip of roughly 85 percent. The League of Conservation Voters gave him a 14 percent grade for his overall scorecard.
The website also flagged how Zeldin frequently voted against the Clean Air Act, despite the fact that Suffolk County has some of the worst air quality in New York.
It also highlighted how he simultaneously voted for greater regulation of PFAS, known as forever chemicals, he also voted against closing a loophole in the Clean Water Act that allows for companies to discharge unlimited forever chemicals into US waterways.
Similarly, the website flagged how Zeldin regularly voted against legislation to inform the public about toxic chemicals.
According to OpenSecrets.Org, Zeldin also received $269,608 in money from the oil and gas industry throughout his political career. In addition, Zeldin voted against climate legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which no Republicans supported, in 2022.
Republicans took back the Senate majority on Tuesday as Trump won the presidency for a second time. They are likely to have 53 Senate seats, which would make confirming the president-elect’s cabinet much easier.
