Lee Zeldin is an ambitious, workhorse politician ready to tackle a complex regulatory agency like EPA, his former colleagues and subordinates say.
Within days of his election victory, President-elect Donald Trump announced that the former New York Republican congressman would be the next EPA administrator. If confirmed, Zeldin, a pick that stunned many in Washington, will have an immense job on his hands.
He will take charge of rolling back signature air, climate and water regulations the agency completed under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, he will have to manage roughly 15,000 EPA employees, many of whom were left frustrated by the last Trump administration — and a much bigger cohort than the dozen or so staffers he oversaw in his congressional office.
POLITICO’s E&E News interviewed 15 people who served with Zeldin on Capitol Hill or worked for him in Congress and on the campaign trail. Some were granted anonymity to speak freely about their experience with the ex-lawmaker.
Seen as a loyal defender of the president-elect through his travails, Zeldin represented his native Long Island in the House from 2015 to 2023 and ran a close yet unsuccessful campaign for New York governor in 2022. He built a reputation as a lawmaker responsive to his constituents since the beginning of his political career, which started as a state senator elected in 2010.
Albany, New York’s capital, was notorious for “the cocktail circuit” for legislators and staff when in session, according to Chapin Fay, who has known Zeldin more than a decade, serving as his campaign manager for part of his 2014 congressional race.
“He was not a cocktail circuit guy. He was a worker,” Fay said about Zeldin, adding his political philosophy was based on providing the best services to voters.
“If your power was out anywhere in his district, he was there. He was just everywhere,” Fay said.
Zeldin is also a tenacious candidate. Fay recalled that on the 2014 campaign, Zeldin would ask him for a fundraising goal every day, which he would share each morning.
“One of his favorite parts of the day was calling me earlier and earlier to tell me that he beat it and it has to be bigger the next day. He’s just a ferocious competitor, even with himself,” said Fay, now CEO and founder of Lighthouse Public Affairs, a strategic communications firm in New York City.
A Zeldin spokesperson declined to comment when contacted for this story.
‘He was not off the clock ever’
Basil Seggos’ time as commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation overlapped with Zeldin’s tenure in Congress.
“He’s a friend, and we didn’t agree often on politics or policy, but I always found him to be approachable, and I think he was also highly responsive to his constituents,” said Seggos, who’s now a partner and senior policy adviser at law firm Foley Hoag.
Seggos said he served in the same Army Reserve unit with Zeldin, who also has a black belt in taekwondo. There were times the two would do pushups and situps side by side to qualify for the Army’s physical fitness test.
“I’d get done with mine, and then I’d have to grade his,” Seggos said. “The officers, you always feel the importance of showing up and hitting your numbers, and my recollection is he did fine.”
Zeldin showed a warm side with his staff too.
“There was never the air of ‘I’m an elected official’ and ‘I’m a member of Congress,’” said Matthew Scott, who was senior legislative assistant to Zeldin. He noted the former congressman’s love of Boston Market, a restaurant chain known for its rotisserie chickens.
In 2015, Scott remembers pulling into the parking lot of the funeral home hosting his deceased grandfather’s memorial service. He had been working for Zeldin for only seven months then and hadn’t told the office about where the funeral was.
“Standing by himself in the corner of the parking lot was Lee Zeldin, waiting to pay his respects to my grandfather, who he had never met,” said Scott, now a vice president at public affairs firm Venn Strategies.
Kevin Dowling, who was Zeldin’s legislative director, said there was a camaraderie in his office. Many staffers were native Long Islanders, like the congressman, and wanted to work hard to deliver for their district.
Dowling said he was often on the House floor with Zeldin at 1 a.m. as amendments offered to appropriations bills were debated.
“Just the level of energy and interest that he would bring to it, to try to message it back to the district, was always fascinating,” Dowling said. They would often relax once votes were done.
“At the end of the day, we always would order food, like order a pizza or order Chinese, because it’s like the New Yorkers in us,” Dowling said.
Zeldin’s former aides remember emails flying in from the lawmaker well into the night. A former staffer said they corrected one colleague who remarked she shouldn’t message Zeldin past 5 p.m.
“I was like you should definitely email him past 5 p.m., he will get back to you,” said the ex-Zeldin staffer. “He was not off the clock ever.”
No ‘bull in a china shop’
Zeldin’s colleagues from his four terms in the House similarly see him as a driven and thoughtful lawmaker who’s conscious of his decisions.
Zeldin flipped a battleground House seat from Democratic control in 2014 after falling short six years earlier.
He often had to defend the district from high-profile, well-funded challengers. Some of his work, like his role as a co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus, reflected the close political balance of his constituency.
“When I came here as a freshman, he was who I tried to model myself after,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who, like Zeldin, is a Republican in a New York City-area seat.
“I felt like he was kind of like the perfect lawmaker, in the sense of how he approached issues, how he thought about the needs of his constituents, how he balanced political realities,” she said.
His “thoughtful” approach and “level head” would serve him and the country well at EPA, she said.
“He’s not going to be a bull in a china shop. He’s going to be more thoughtful and rational. He’s going to weigh impacts of any decision he makes, the pros and the cons, and then do what is in the best interest for the country, for our economy, for our residents, in a balanced way,” Malliotakis predicted.
Alison Esposito saw that side of Zeldin too. The former New York City police officer was Zeldin’s running mate when he ran for governor, which he lost to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).
“Getting to know him for these last few years, I didn’t just know Lee the politician. I got to know Lee the man, Lee the father, Lee the husband, Lee the friend,” she said. “Lee possesses a great deal of empathy, and he’s incredibly intelligent, and he wants to do what is practically best for the people that he represents.”
Esposito ran for the House this year against Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and lost, but Zeldin’s support for her campaign, including fundraising and appearing at rallies, was “invaluable,” she said.
Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) said he and Zeldin were close when they served in Congress, which included membership in the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group.
Zeldin is “quiet, but he has a great sense of humor. He’s the type that’ll quietly tell you a joke in your ear; he’s not going to get everyone’s attention to tell a joke,” Curbelo said. “He’s definitely not bombastic or flamboyant. So there are no stories like that to tell about him.”
Other Republicans remember a colleague who took care to prepare in advance and get up to speed quickly.
Zeldin has taken that same approach for his confirmation process, watching his EPA predecessors’ hearings over Thanksgiving break.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) worked closely with Zeldin in 2019, when they were among the staunchest Trump defenders during his first impeachment over the then-president’s attempts to use Ukraine security aid to influence the 2020 presidential election.
“He was the kind of guy who could work with all parts of the conference and was willing to prepare and do the hard work,” Jordan said.
He continued, “I remember during some of the impeachment stuff, him being willing to dig into depositions, dig into the work and be prepared.”
“He’ll make himself smart on the issues and he’ll recognize where it messes with states’ rights,” said Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who served with Zeldin on the Homeland Security Committee.
Democrats in ‘wait and see’ mode
Democratic lawmakers who worked with Zeldin on issues like funding to keep the Long Island Sound clean also had some kind words for him, although they were more limited in their plaudits.
“On issues around the Long Island Sound we worked together, worked closely,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who was a co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus alongside Zeldin. “We were able to get more funding for the Long Island Sound. So on that issue we worked very well together.”
The two teamed up to oppose Trump’s budget requests to cut EPA’s Long Island Sound program and succeeded in increasing its funding.
But DeLauro stopped short of extrapolating that experience. Asked about whether their working relationship could extend to EPA, she said, “We’ll wait and see. We did good things together, let’s hope we can do that in the future.”
Seggos, a longtime state environmental regulator, said Zeldin has a tough task ahead at EPA.
“Anytime, anyone steps in the role of leading an agency like that, you need to spend time learning it,” Seggos said. “You can only learn how to do so by being on the job 24/7, so I think any administrator has to rise to the challenge.”
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), a fellow Long Island representative, also sees Zeldin as a champion for local issues.
“When it came to things on Long Island, like the Long Island Sound … and issues related to forever chemicals and groundwater contamination, he was very helpful,” Suozzi said, singling out one of Zeldin’s pet issues, his successful efforts to block the sale of the federally owned Plum Island.
“I’m going to try and work with him based upon the knowledge that he has on Long Island to try and make positive change regarding the environment,” Suozzi said.
Asked if he’s optimistic Zeldin can work with Democrats, Suozzi didn’t answer, instead making a pained expression.
Reporter Robin Bravender contributed.
