President-elect Donald Trump announced on Nov. 11 that former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin is his choice to take over the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
He said he expects Zeldin to establish new environmental review and maintenance standards that allow the United States to grow in a “healthy and well-structured way.”
State, Federal Lawmaker
Zeldin’s political service began in 2010 when he was elected to the New York Senate. He served at the state level until 2014 and was then elected to Congress, representing New York’s First Congressional District. He served in that role from 2015 to 2023.While he was in Washington, Zeldin served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. He was also one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress and co-chaired the House Republican Israel Caucus.
“He was a vocal advocate on foreign policy, border security, military affairs, combating antisemitism, environmental issues, energy policy, and much more,” Trump said in his announcement. ”For his district, he championed vast infrastructure and research projects, including the preservation of Plum Island, Army Corps of Engineers initiatives, and a $2 billion Electron-Ion Collider for Brookhaven National Lab.”
Zeldin was a staunch defender of Trump when House Democrats attempted to impeach him. He was one of eight House Republicans who served on Trump’s impeachment team during his first impeachment trial in 2020, a group that ran alongside the president’s legal defense team.
Lost New York Governorship
Zeldin returned to his home state in 2022, winning the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination. Trump and other high-profile Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed him.He challenged then-interim Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who stepped into the role after Andrew Cuomo resigned after facing an impeachment inquiry and trial.
A key focus of his campaign was on the crime rates in New York City and surrounding areas, which he said were a result of Hochul’s policies, specifically the state’s bail reform laws.
Despite winning nearly 50 of New York’s 62 counties, Zeldin’s campaign fell short, and he conceded on Nov. 11, 2022.
Registered Democratic voters have outnumbered registered Republicans in New York state since 1994.
Shots Fired
In October 2022, while Zeldin was challenging Hochul for the position of New York governor, shots were fired near his home.The then-gubernatorial candidate said two people were shot lying underneath his front porch and in nearby bushes.
Authorities with Suffolk County Police said shortly after the shooting that it was not linked to Zeldin or his family. Zeldin and his wife were not home at the time.
The shooting followed a previous incident in which Zeldin was accosted on stage during a campaign rally near Rochester, New York, in July 2022. A 44-year-old Army veteran, David Jakubonis, later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a federal officer.
Army Veteran
Before serving in government, Zeldin served in the U.S. Army, spending four years in active duty in a variety of capacities, including as a military intelligence officer, prosecutor, and military magistrate. He was deployed to Iraq with an infantry battalion with the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006.Cancer Survivor
Zeldin joins the second Trump administration as a cancer survivor. He announced in September 2021 that he had been diagnosed with early-stage chronic myeloid leukemia the previous November, and was now in remission.“Over the last nine months, I have achieved complete remission, am expected to live a normal life, and my doctor says I currently have no evidence of this disease in my system,” Zeldin said in a statement released through his congressional office.
The former congressman said the treatments did not affect his work in Washington or his duties with the Army Reserves.
Dr. Jeffrey Vacirca, Zeldin’s hematologist, said the congressman “responded extraordinarily well” to targeted therapy and “has achieved complete remission.”
