President-elect Donald Trump selected former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York on Monday to oversee the Environmental Protection Agency in his administration.
In a statement announcing the appointment, Trump described Zeldin, a former four-term Republican from Long Island, as “a true fighter for America First policies.”
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. “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 said it was “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,” he said on X.
The post requires Senate confirmation. Republicans will have a majority in the chamber when the new Congress is sworn in during January.
The EPA’s 2024 fiscal year budget is $9.1 billion. The agency has 15,130 employees.
After Trump’s announcement, Zeldin said in a Fox News interview that he would prioritize efforts to “roll back regulations” that he said caused American businesses to struggle.
“There are regulations that the left wing of this country have been advocating through regulatory power that ends up causing businesses to go in the wrong direction,” he said.
The New York Post first reported Zeldin’s appointment — Trump’s second Cabinet pick for his second term in office.
Trump has made other staffing announcements in recent days. Last week, he said Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, would be White House chief of staff. On Sunday, he named immigration hard-liner Tom Homan as his “border czar.”
Trump has indicated he plans to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, a move mirroring steps he took during his first administration. He has also called for repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, a signature legislative accomplishment of President Joe Biden. The law commits billions of dollars toward expanding clean energy to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
In Congress, Zeldin and fellow Republicans voted against the landmark climate measure.
Environmentalists bashed Trump’s pick Monday.
Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous called Zeldin “an unqualified, anti-American worker who opposes efforts to safeguard our clean air and water.”
“Our lives, our livelihoods, and our collective future cannot afford Lee Zeldin — or anyone who seeks to carry out a mission antithetical to the EPA’s mission,” Jealous said in a statement. “We have made too much progress to allow Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin to take us back.”
Zeldin chairs the China policy initiative at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank former Trump administration officials launched in 2021.
Republicans heralded him for an unexpectedly close race for New York governor in 2022, when he lost to Democrat Kathy Hochul 53.1% to 46.7%. Some Republicans highlighted Zeldin’s performance as playing a role in helping Republicans flip four House seats in New York that year, in particular that of Sean Patrick Maloney, who chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
