As EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Testifies to Congress, EPA Actions Under His Leadership Continue to Put Americans’ in Jeopardy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2026
CONTACT: Gabrielle Levy, Glevy@cacampaign.org, 562-673-6974
As EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Testifies to Congress, EPA Actions Under His Leadership Continue to Put Americans’ in Jeopardy
FY27 EPA budget proposal ignores real Americans’ voices.
WASHINGTON–As Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin testifies in Congress this week on the president’s 2027 budget, climate organizations, public health officials, and tens of thousands of Americans are renewing their call for Zeldin to resign or be removed from office for his reckless mismanagement at the helm of a key federal agency. As Zeldin defends the Trump administration’s destruction of climate, environmental, and public health protections over the past year, advocates and impacted people from communities hurt by Trump and Zeldin’s Polluters First Agenda will attend the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment hearing today and subsequent Senate Energy and Commerce hearing Wednesday to demonstrate opposition to their proposal to slash the EPA’s budget by more than half in 2027.
The administration’s budget proposal is another in a long line of sell outs over the past 15 months to big corporate polluters and their profits. It proposed slashing the EPA’s budget by a whopping 52%, essentially eliminating the agency’s ability to protect people from pollution.
“Zeldin treats our lives, our health, and our environment as expendable,” said Margie Alt, Climate Action Campaign’s Director. “He has repeatedly broken his oath as EPA administrator, abandoning its core mission to protect our health and environment. Zeldin is unwilling or unable to do the job. No defense he puts up in front of Congress will change that. Nothing he says can undo the harm he’s already done to our communities and climate. It is time for him to go.”
Petitions calling for Zeldin’s resignation or removal as EPA administrator have collected nearly 49,000 signatures. They join more than 160 organizations and 290+ public health professionals who in the past month signed letters declaring Game Over on Zeldin’s time at the EPA.
As one of the key architects of the administration’s Polluters First Agenda, Lee Zeldin is putting lives at risk. His decisions mean more asthma attacks, more lung damage in kids, more pregnancy complications and premature births, more dementia, more cancer, more heart attacks and strokes, more mental health harms, and more premature deaths.
The Trump administration’s budget demonstrates that they think people’s lives are worth nothing – literally $0 – and they will tear down pollution limits, abandon enforcement of environmental laws, and reject established climate science as they seek to maximize corporate profits on the backs of people struggling to pay their energy and medical bills.
Congress must stand up for our lives, our health, and our climate by rejecting Trump and Zeldin’s plans to further diminish the EPA, and instead demand the agency be fully staffed and funded to deliver on its mission to protect us all.
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About the Climate Action Campaign
Climate Action Campaign (CAC) is a vibrant coalition driving ambitious, durable, equitable federal action to tackle the climate crisis. By cutting carbon pollution and accelerating the transition to clean energy, we will improve public health and create a more resilient economy and a more sustainable future for all.
