President Trump nominated Lee Zeldin to be the 17^th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He was confirmed by the Senate on January 29 in a 56-42 vote.

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During his campaign, President Trump had called climate change a “hoax”, calling for the repeal of the woefully misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, which was really a Green New Deal wolf in sheep’s clothing. He also called for rolling back many of the EPA’s burdensome rules on business.

In announcing Mr. Zeldin, Pres. Trump praised him for being a “true fighter for America First policies.” Mr. Trump said…

“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. 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.”

Mr. Zeldin said his Day One priority at the EPA is to “roll back regulations that are forcing businesses to struggle.” During his confirmation hearing, he expressed his intent to collaborate with the private sector to “promote common-sense, smart regulation that will allow American innovation to continue to lead the world.”

A New Yorker Born and Raised

Mr. Zeldin represented New York’s First Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023. He was a vigorous defender of President Trump during the left’s impeachment hearings. He also voted against certifying Arizona and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in the 2020 election.

Mr. Zeldin was born on January 30, 1980, in East Meadow, New York. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York at Albany and his law degree from Albany Law School in 2023.

He served in the United States Army from 2003 to 2007 as a Military Intelligence Officer. In 2006, he was assigned to the 82^nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper and deployed to Iraq. In 2007 when his tour of duty was over, he returned to New York and transitioned from Active Duty to Reserve Duty, rising to the rank of Lt Colonel. He retired from the Army on April 30, 2025.

From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Zeldin worked as an attorney. In 2010, he was elected to the New York State Senate. As a State Senator, he voted against New York’s. Marriage Equality Act, stating “It is my belief that marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman.”

His Political Background

In 2014, Mr. Zeldin ran for the House of Representatives, winning 54% of the vote in his district. He served on the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as the Financial Services Committee.

During his time in Congress, he was a staunch defender of the unborn. When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Mr. Zeldin declared it “a victory for life, for family, for the Constitution, and for federalism.”

In Congress, Mr. Zeldin voted for an amendment to cut the EPA’s budget. He voted to pull out of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In 2022, Mr. Zeldin ran for Governor of New York, losing to Kathleen Hochul. But he received the highest percentage of the vote for a Republican gubernatorial candidate since 2002. His well-run campaign is credited with helping several House races in New York flip from blue to red.

Mr. Zeldin launched the Leadership American Needs PAC in 2023 to reach out to Millennial and Gen Z voters, as well as Black, Latino, and Jewish voters.

In 2020, Mr. Zeldin was diagnosed with early-stage leukemia. He immediately began treatment and has been in complete remission since September 2021. His doctor reported that Mr. Zeldin is expected to live a normal life. “My health is phenomenal, and I continue to operate at 110%,” Mr. Zeldin declared.

Mr. Zeldin is Jewish and a member of the B’nai Israel Temple. He is married to Diana, and they have identical twin daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.

Powering the Great American Comeback

Since his confirmation by the Senate on January 29, 2025, EPA Administrator Zeldin has wasted no time implementing his priorities.

“We’re going back to basics. The core mission at EPA is protecting human health and the environment,” he said.

In February, Mr. Zeldin announced his new initiative, called Powering the Great American Comeback. The initiative has five pillars:

1. Clean Air, Land, and Water for Every American
2. Restore American Energy Dominance
3. Permitting Reform, Cooperative Federalism, and Cross-Agency Partnership
4. Make the United States the Artificial Intelligence Capital of the World
5. Protecting and Bringing Back American Auto Jobs

Mr. Zeldin added that the EPA will work to slash the red tape holding back American workers from upward economic mobility. “We will accomplish all this while conserving our environment, protecting access to clean air and water, and keeping the American people healthy,” he promises.

A Deregulation Champion

On March 12, Mr. Zeldin launched 31 historic actions in what he calls “the largest deregulation action” ever, promising to slash trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and “hidden” taxes on families.

He promised the EPA will do “more deregulation in 2025 than the entire federal government-wide deregulatory effort ever of any administration.” These include ending regulations on power plants, the oil and gas industry, and the food industry, as well as easing the economy of unnecessary bureaucratic burdens that increase the cost of living for Americans.

Mr. Zeldin also plans to end the Biden-era regulations that are driving up manufacturing costs on gas-powered vehicles. These regulations were the foundation for Biden’s Electric Vehicle (EV) mandate that 50% of cars sold by 2030 be electric. President Trump has revoked Biden’s mandate through an executive order and is currently taking steps to end the federal tax credits for EVs.

Every deregulation announced by Pres. Trump’s EPA is to focus on energy dominance, cost reduction for American families, and strengthening the U.S. auto industry.

Climate Change

Mr. Zeldin has expressed concern that politicians in Washington are willing to bankrupt the economy in the name of climate change, making life difficult and more costly for people, i.e., being forced to buy an electric car.

“We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion,” said Mr. Zeldin.

Calling it a “climate participation trophy”, Mr. Zeldin is calling for an end to the unpopular Start/Stop technology in cars. This feature automatically – and annoyingly – turns off your car when it’s sitting at a red light or in traffic, supposedly to cut emissions and ollution.

Currently, the EPA provides fuel economy credits to automakers. Their plan is to do away with those credits and thereby incentivize automakers to do away with this unpopular feature.

Mr. Zeldin also supports rewriting the EPA’s 2009 finding that so-called planet-warming greenhouse gases are a threat to public health and welfare. This finding is the holy grail of climate activists and the foundation for a host of overreaching EPA climate regulations since the Obama era. If the finding is repealed, and the repeal is upheld in likely court challenges, President Trump could invalidate all current climate regulations.

Battling Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

During budget hearings in May, Mr. Zeldin asked for less funding in the EPA’s 2026 fiscal year budget, pulling back on what he and President Trump consider the EPA’s excesses during the Biden years.

Mainstream media immediately pounced, claiming Mr. Zeldin has no proof of waste and abuse during the Biden years.

“We will not be bullied and intimidated into wasting taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Zeldin said in response. He then proceeded to name a number of examples. For instance:

After the election, EPA officials were rushing to get $20 billion in so-called climate grants out the door before the Trump administration began. Stacey Abrams, the failed Georgia governor candidate who lost to Brian Kemp, received a last-minute $2 billion grant, along with EPA money doled out to former EPA employees and Democratic major donors.

Mr. Zeldin is also looking to reduce the EPA workforce by 65%. He has already terminated its DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs and closed its environmental justice department. Mr. Zeldin called EPA’s environmental justice initiative “an excuse to fund left-wing activists instead of actually spending those dollars to directly remediate environmental issues for those communities.”

“President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people to stop the fraud and abuse by leaders who irresponsibly shoveled boatloads of cash to far-left, activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity, instead of serving the American people. Those days are over,” declared Mr. Zeldin.

Back to Basics

President Richard Nixon established the EPA in 1970. He gave the agency two main missions:

1. Promote clear air and water
2. Reduce pollution from waste disposal and other hazards

Fifty-five years later, the EPA gained the power it was never meant to have and went far beyond its original mission. Mr. Zeldin claims the Biden administration was more fixated on “ideological pursuits” than ensuring air and water quality.

Mr. Zeldin would like to see the agency go back to basics instead of pushing tedious regulations, in furtherance of what he calls the “climate change religion.”

In the first 100 days, Mr. Zeldin’s EPA has updated water quality standards and undertaken water cleanups in our nation’s rivers. The EPA has also developed a method to detect 40 different toxic man-made chemicals known as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl) found in surface and ground water.

The EPA has approved loans to provide safe, reliable drinking water to communities. The EPA has also fully cleared or is in the process of clearing four Superfund sites. In partnership with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the EPA is reviewing new scientific findings on the potential health risks of adding fluoride to drinking water.

Here is a link to the 100 environmental actions taken by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in President Trump’s first 100 days. He is off to an amazing start, but his goal to cut regulations while protecting the environment and safeguarding America’s health is no easy task. He needs our prayers.

A Prayer for EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin

Father, You are the Creator of Heaven and Earth. You provide the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. You gave to man the great responsibility of having “dominion over all the earth.” (Genesis 1:26.)

We lift up EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to You. Guide him to do Your will as he oversees an agency tasked with ensuring clean air and water and protecting our environment from toxins and pollution that harm the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, as well as the American people. May Holy Spirit guide him in his work. May he implement Godly policies that are truly beneficial to the planet and to people. Give him the courage to dismiss any policy that is contrary to Your Word.

Lord, we pray that the natural environment that You created will be restored to pristine condition. Use Mr. Zeldin to implement policies to remove the poisons found in our water, air, ground, and food. Give him boldness to do what is right in Your sight to restore the beauty of the environment and the health of the American people.

May Mr. Zeldin give wise and trustworthy counsel to President Trump on environmental issues and work in unity with other members of the president’s cabinet.

Lord, we lift up Mr. Zeldin’s family to you and ask that you protect them from all harm. May love and unity reign in his family. We ask for continued protection for Mr. Zeldin from any return of leukemia. We pray that Mr. Zeldin, a Jew and one of Your chosen people, would come to recognize the true Messiah, Yeshua, as his own Lord and Savior. May he and his family be redeemed, restored, and fulfilled in You, the God of Israel.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Add your own prayers for Mr. Zeldin in the comments below.

Belinda Brewster analyzes cultural, political, and world events from a biblical worldview. Belinda’s passion is to equip, support, and encourage parents and grandparents who are courageously battling against the spiritual and cultural forces impacting children and grandchildren. Photo Credit: USDA photo by Christophe Paul.