President-elect Donald Trump on Monday named former Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as he continues to build out his future administration with loyal supporters.
Trump, in a statement, said Zeldin, who mounted a failed bid for governor of New York in 2022, would “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.”
“It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” Zeldin wrote in a post on X.
It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator.
We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water. https://t.co/FQk9XPdgcw
— Lee Zeldin (@LeeMZeldin) November 11, 2024
Zeldin, who left Congress in 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 like the military, national security, antisemitism, U.S.-Israel relations, immigration and crime.
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.
In 2016 he 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, which is allowed in state waters but banned in the federal area.
Trump often pointed to Zeldin’s performance in the 2022 gubernatorial race — where the Republican did far better than had been expected against Gov. Kathy Hochul — when he insisted he could be competitive in his Democratic home state. While Trump didn’t win New York, he did far better than he had during previous elections, particularly in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
The announcement comes 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.
This is a developing story
