Lee Zeldin
Lee Michael Zeldin is an American politician who has been serving as the 17th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency since January 29, 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023. From 2011 to 2014, Zeldin served as a member of the New York State Senate from the 3rd Senate district.
A close ally of President Donald Trump, Zeldin prominently defended Trump during his first impeachment hearings concerning the Trump–Ukraine scandal. Zeldin was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 2022. He defeated three challengers in the Republican primary, becoming the nominee of the Republican Party and the Conservative Party. Zeldin lost the election to incumbent governor Kathy Hochul while receiving the highest percentage of the vote for a Republican gubernatorial nominee since 2002 and the highest raw vote total for a Republican gubernatorial nominee since 1970.
In November 2024, Zeldin was nominated for Administrator of the EPA as part of the second administration of President Donald Trump. He was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in on January 29, 2025. During his tenure at the EPA, Zeldin has pushed for substantial environmental deregulation, including going after rules aimed at cutting emissions from power plants, preventing pollution of waterways, and Biden-era restrictions on harmful chemicals.
Early life and education
Zeldin was born in East Meadow, New York, the son of Merrill Schwartz and David Zeldin. He was raised in Suffolk County, New York, and graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach, New York, in 1998. He also attended Hebrew school.Zeldin received a bachelor's degree in political science from the SUNY University at Albany in 2001. He received a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School in May 2003. In 2004, he was admitted to the New York State Bar, becoming the youngest attorney in New York at the time.
Military service and legal practice
Zeldin received an Army ROTC commission as a second lieutenant, and served in the United States Army from 2003 to 2007, where he initially joined the Military Intelligence Corps. In 2007, he transitioned from active duty to the Army Reserve, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel before his retirement on April 30, 2025.In 2007, Zeldin became an attorney for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 2008, he started a general-practice law firm in Smithtown, New York. He operated it full-time until he was elected to New York's 3rd State Senate district in 2010.
New York State Senate (2011–2014)
In 2010, Zeldin ran in the New York State Senate's 3rd District, challenging Democratic incumbent Brian X. Foley. Zeldin defeated Foley with 57% of the vote. Zeldin was reelected in 2012, defeating Democrat Francis Genco with 56% of the vote.In January 2011, a bill co-sponsored by Zeldin that provided for a 2% property tax cap to become law.
In June 2011, Zeldin voted against the Marriage Equality Act, which the Senate passed 33–29. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law. In a statement after the bill passed, Zeldin said: "It is my belief that marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman."
In December 2011, Zeldin supported a $250 million cut to the MTA payroll tax.
In March 2012, Zeldin helped to create the PFC Joseph Dwyer PTSD Peer-to-Peer Veterans Support program; funding for the program was included in the 2012–13 New York State Budget.
In February 2014, Zeldin introduced a bill that sought to halt implementation of the Common Core curriculum for three years.
In March 2014, Zeldin voted against the New York Dream Act, which would allow undocumented students who meet in-state tuition requirements to obtain financial aid to study at the university level.
U.S. House of Representatives (2015-2023)
Elections
2008
In 2008, Zeldin challenged incumbent representative Tim Bishop in New York's 1st congressional district. Bishop defeated Zeldin 58%–42%.2014
On October 6, 2013, Zeldin announced he would again seek the Republican nomination to run against Bishop. His state senate district included much of the congressional district's western portion.Zeldin defeated George Demos in the Republican primary and ran unopposed for the Conservative Party nomination in the June 24 primary. On November 4, he defeated Bishop with 54% of the vote.
2016
In February 2015, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced that Zeldin was one of 12 members in the Patriot Program, a program designed to help protect vulnerable Republican incumbents in the 2016 election.In the 2016 Republican primary, Zeldin faced no opposition. In the November 8 general election, he faced Democratic nominee Anna Throne-Holst, a member of the Southampton Town Board. Zeldin won with 58% of the vote.
2018
Zeldin ran unopposed in the 2018 Republican primary. In the November general election his chief opponent was Democratic nominee Perry Gershon, who also had the endorsement of the Working Families Party.Zeldin's 2018 campaign featured fundraisers with Breitbart News founder Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka. At the Gorka event, reporters from local news outlets were removed.
Zeldin defeated Gershon, 51.5%–47.4%.
2020
Zeldin ran unopposed in the Republican primary. In the November 3 general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Nancy Goroff, 54.9%–45.1%.Political positions
Abortion
In May 2015, Zeldin voted for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill he co-sponsored, which would prohibit abortions in cases where the fetus's probable age is 20 weeks or more, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother's life was in danger. The act would also impose criminal penalties on doctors who violated the ban. It did not pass.On September 18, 2015, Zeldin voted for the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill that would defund the nonprofit organization Planned Parenthood for one year unless the organization agreed not to provide abortion services.
In January 2020, Zeldin joined an amicus curiae brief encouraging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Education
In July 2015, Zeldin attached an amendment to the Student Success Act to allow states to opt out of Common Core without penalty. The amendment was passed and signed into law.Environment
In 2014, Zeldin "expressed doubts about the severity" of climate change. While some sources have since stated that Zeldin denies the scientific consensus on climate change, in 2025, Zeldin said that climate change is a real issue and needs to be addressed.In April 2015, Zeldin and Senator Chuck Schumer introduced the Fluke Fairness Act. The bill would have changed the current system for managing fluke fishing quotas by creating a regional approach to updating quotas and standards based on geographic, scientific, and economic data. It did not pass.
On July 15, 2015, Zeldin introduced the Exclusive Economic Zone Clarification Act. The bill proposed to amend the boundary in part of the federal Exclusive Economic Zone. It would give fisheries management of Block Island Sound exclusively to New York and Rhode Island. The bill died in committee.
In September 2015, Zeldin and Citizens Campaign for the Environment executive director Adrienne Esposito condemned a proposed federal plan for dumping dredged materials, saying, "We can't just assume that dumping these waste spoils in the Long Island Sound is environmentally benign."
In April 2018, Zeldin said he did not support the Paris Agreement. He expressed concern about "other countries that are contributing to very adverse impacts on our climate but not having the level of responsibility that they need to have in stepping up and making a positive change in their own countries".
Foreign affairs
In January 2016, the New York Post reported that Zeldin was a no-show in 2015 at 12 of 18 House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearings that dealt specifically with ISIL and with Syria.In February 2016, Zeldin and representatives Mike Pompeo and Frank LoBiondo sought visas to travel to Iran to check the country's compliance with the Iran nuclear deal framework. In June 2016, Iran called the request a "publicity stunt" and said it would deny the visas.
Zeldin has said that Israel is "America's strongest ally" and that Congress must "protect Israel's right to self-defense". In 2016, he spoke in support of the anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions legislation that passed the New York State Senate. In March 2017, he co-sponsored a bipartisan bill in the House, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, to oppose boycotts of Israel and "further combat the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement". He supported the Trump administration's decision to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018 as part of the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
Zeldin spoke highly of the Abraham Accords and nominated Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz for a Nobel Peace Prize for their work on the agreement.
Amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zeldin was one of 963 Americans the Russian Foreign Ministry banned from entering Russia.
Health care
In 2015, Zeldin co-sponsored two bills in Congress to combat Lyme disease, the Tick-Borne Disease Research and Accountability and Transparency Act of 2015 and the 21st Century Cures Act.On May 4, 2017, Zeldin voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass the American Health Care Act.
According to an April 2020 announcement by Zeldin, he helped Suffolk County obtain more than 1.2 million pieces of personal protective equipment from the White House for Suffolk County to aid workers against the COVID-19 pandemic, after conversations with Jared Kushner.
After Governor Kathy Hochul imposed a vaccination mandate on healthcare workers, Zeldin criticized Stony Brook University Hospital for firing employees who declined to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and for using incendiary language in termination letters to those employees. He opposed mask mandates and COVID-19 vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.