EPA’s Zeldin Tangles With Democrats Over Trump’s Budget Request

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin wrestled with House Democrats on Monday in a hostile hearing that culminated in the top Democratic appropriator facetiously suggesting the agency chief drink weed killer.

The squabble underscored how firmly Democrats oppose the White House’s stance on environmental regulation, and consequently how unlikely the Trump administration is to get the 52% budget cut it seeks for the Environmental Protection Agency in fiscal 2027.

That reduction mirrors the 54.5% reduction President Donald Trump asked for last year. Democrats fought back, resulting in only a 3.5% budget cut for 2026.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, pressed Zeldin Monday about his alleged rejection of climate change science. As evidence, she pointed to the EPA’s repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding and its rollback of fuel emission standards for motor vehicles.

“The budget proposal reads like a climate change denier’s manifesto,” DeLauro said before the panel’s Interior and Environment Subcommittee.

In response, Zeldin pointed to decisions such as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which the Supreme Court reversed the doctrine of courts’ deference to agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous laws, and West Virginia v. EPA, which curbed the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon emissions linked to climate change.

Zeldin at times challenged DeLauro’s awareness of those decisions, prompting her to call him “very defensive about changing your policy and your positions with regard to the environment,” seemingly a reference to his tenure as a House lawmaker, when he was a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus.

Ultimately, Zeldin told DeLauro that people should not drink or inject glyphosate, the active ingredient in pesticides such as Roundup, to which she responded, “Maybe you should try doing that.” She then quickly added, “Excuse me,” in an apologetic tone.

Zeldin had a similar exchange with Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.) over the EPA’s recent repeal of the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which environmentalists say will let coal- and oil-fired power plants emit more mercury. Zeldin and Harder got entangled in a technical dispute over how much more mercury would be released, with Harder at one point saying he had seen estimates that the number could be as high as 1,500 additional pounds.

“Rip it up,” Zeldin said of Harder’s documentation. “Have your dog pee on it. It’s just not accurate.”

DeLauro later said she believed “there is bipartisan support to fight back against some of these cuts,” because they affect both Republican and Democratic communities.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), the subcommittee chair, seemed to acknowledge that point when he said “the budget won’t look the same, obviously, when Congress gets done with it,” and said many states and tribes rely on EPA grants that would be deeply cut or zeroed out under Trump’s proposal.

Zeldin is slated to testify on the budget blueprint on Tuesday before the House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee, and again on Wednesday before the full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.