Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. interviewed Lee ZeldinPresident-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Environmental Protection Agency, during a confirmation hearing Thursday by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
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Lummis asked Zeldin whether his job as EPA administrator would be to “follow the science or follow the law.”
Zeldin responded that his “first obligation” would be to follow the law.
Lummis then asked if Zeldin saw his goal as having clean air or eliminating specific fuels.
“The reason regulations might be in place is the end state of wanting to have the cleanest, safest, healthiest air and drinking water, that’s the goal, the end state of all the conversations we could have and any regulations that could be passed and all the laws that could be passed by Congress,” Zeldin said. “pure air and clean water.”
Zeldin is a former congressman from New York. He left Congress in January 2023 and was among the House Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. During his tenure in the House, he did not serve on committees overseeing environmental policy.