Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts as former US Representative Lee Zeldin speaks at a rally ahead of the New Hampshire primary election in Concord, New Hampshire, USA, January 19, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump said that Zeldin, a lawyer who represented a Long Island congressman for four terms, was “a true fighter for America First policies.”
“He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions, implemented in a way that unleashes the power of American companies while maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said in a statement.
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Zeldin, 44, wrote in a tweet: “It is an honor to join President Trump's Cabinet as EPA Administrator.”
“We will restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the U.S. the world leader in AI,” Zeldin wrote. “We will do this while protecting access to clean air and clean water.”
Zeldin has received an extremely low lifetime rating of 14% from the League of Conservation Voters for his many votes in the House of Representatives, which that group deemed “anti-environmental.”
Zeldin was the Republican Party's nominee for governor of New York in 2022.
He lost to incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul.
Earlier Monday, NBC News confirmed that Trump had selected New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as his ambassador to the United Nations, his first Cabinet choice. Stefanik is chairman of the House Republican Conference.
Trump announced Sunday that Tom Homan would be his so-called border czar, who, in addition to securing U.S. borders, “will be responsible for all deportations of illegal aliens to their country of origin.”
Homan is the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This is developing news. Check back for updates.
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