We don’t take money from left wing NGOs to give it to right wing NGOs. We’re giving it to the Treasury. We’re saving this money for the American taxpayer. — EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin
Dean Cain sits down with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in Washington, D.C. for Episode 6 of The Homeland. The conversation covers Zeldin’s path from military intelligence officer to the head of the EPA, what his team found when they walked in the door, and the legal and operational transformation now underway at the agency.
How Lee Zeldin Became EPA Administrator
Zeldin recounts that President Trump called him on a Sunday morning, immediately after Zeldin finished a Fox & Friends interview. Trump did not simply offer the role. He came prepared with a list of 15 to 20 specific priorities he wanted the EPA to execute, from permitting reform to energy dominance to reviving the American auto industry.
Zeldin notes the contrast with the first Trump term, when staffing was thin and institutional resistance was immediate. This time, many dozens of experienced team members were onboarded from day one, including veterans of the first administration who understood the terrain.
$30 Billion in Taxpayer Savings
The EPA’s annual operating budget when Zeldin arrived was approximately $10 billion. Yet in 2024, the Biden EPA obligated and spent over $60 billion, rushing funds out the door before the transition. Zeldin references a leaked video of a Biden EPA official comparing the spending spree to “tossing gold bars off the Titanic.”
Through canceled grants and contracts, terminated media subscriptions, real estate consolidation, staff efficiencies, and the closure of a Biden-era EPA museum that virtually no one visited, Zeldin’s team clawed back $30 billion for the American taxpayer.
The Climate Grift Exposed
Zeldin details how billions of dollars were routed through NGOs run by former Biden and Obama officials and Democrat donors. He identifies eight prime recipients of $20 billion under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, noting every one was run by former administration officials or political allies.
He cites a Stacey Abrams-connected entity valued at approximately $100 the year before it received a $2 billion federal award. On the $7 billion “Solar for All” program, Zeldin told Senator Bernie Sanders that grants were passing through up to four intermediaries, each skimming at least 15 percent before any dollar reached its stated purpose.
Environmental justice grants were similarly misused. Zeldin describes canceled grants where appropriated funds went to activist organizations training other activist groups to lobby Washington for more funding, rather than directly remediating environmental issues. He also references $50 million awarded to an organization linking climate justice to “Free Palestine” causes.
The Largest Act of Deregulation in U.S. History
Working with President Trump, Zeldin finalized a single decision valued at $1.3 trillion in regulatory relief: the rescission of the 2009 Endangerment Finding, all greenhouse gas emission standards for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles, and all associated off-cycle credits, including the widely disliked auto start-stop feature.
The Legal Foundation: Loper Bright and West Virginia v. EPA
Zeldin explains the Supreme Court decisions that undergird these actions. The Loper Bright decision overturned the Chevron deference doctrine, meaning agencies can no longer justify action simply because a statute does not explicitly prohibit it. The West Virginia v. EPA decision established the major questions doctrine, requiring congressional authorization for regulations imposing trillions of dollars in economic impact.
Zeldin recounts that in congressional hearings, members appeared unfamiliar with these landmark rulings, including a former chair of the House Appropriations Committee. He notes that the 2009 Endangerment Finding was built on the administrator taking discretion because the law did not say the administrator could not. That approach is now legally dead.
Energy Dominance in Action
Zeldin serves on the National Energy Dominance Council, chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum with Energy Secretary Chris Wright as vice chair. He describes a collaborative, cross-agency approach driven by a president who engages at granular levels of detail.
Key accomplishments cited include saving coal plants across the country, advancing small modular nuclear reactors, building natural gas pipelines, and breaking ground on the Nessie pipeline, which will deliver natural gas from Pennsylvania to 2.3 million downstate New York families by the end of 2027. Zeldin states plainly: that pipeline does not get built if Trump does not win the election.
Looking Ahead
On the EPA’s first anniversary under President Trump, Zeldin’s team released a list of 500 environmental actions completed in year one. He states the agency intends to maintain that pace, continuing to pursue clean air, land, and water while scoring deregulatory wins, following the law as written, and ensuring Americans feel their voices are heard.
Watch the full episode on Proud American Studios.
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