Zeldin's Revolt: EPA Workers Condemn Former East End Congressman

Six-hundred and twenty U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers condemned EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the former congressman for the East End, in a letter of dissent — with some signatories now fighting for their careers.

The letter, publicly released June 30, condemned President Donald Trump’s administration’s rollback of  regulations on asbestos and mercury usage, cancellation of billions of dollars worth of research grants, and firing hundreds of environmental justice staffers to comply with the administration’s DEI crackdown.

“Under your leadership, Administrator Zeldin, this administration is recklessly undermining the EPA mission,” the EPA workers wrote in the letter, which blasted the agency’s “harmful deregulation, mischaracterization of previous EPA actions, and disregard for scientific expertise.”

At least 170 signed the letter publicly while the rest remained anonymous, according to The Guardian. One-hundred and thirty nine signatories were put on paid administrative leave for two weeks as the agency investigates the letter.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” an EPA spokesperson said in response to the letter.

The EPA’s reaction was heavily criticized.

Colette Delawalla, director of Stand Up For Science, the group that published the letter, called the decision “clear retaliation” and “a First Amendment Right Violation.”

“We now live in a situation where sending an email to your boss could get you fired,” she said in an interview. “These are just public servants who wanted to make sure that the American public knew, ‘Hey, you’re about to be exposed to more lead, mercury, asbestos, and forever chemicals than you ever have been in your life.’”

At a July 8 press conference on Capitol Hill, she expanded on her criticism.

“This is not a partisan issue,” she said. “Asbestos, lead and mercury do not care who you voted for. Cancer doesn’t care who you voted for. This is not a left or a right question. This is a question of, ‘Are we a functional democracy?’ Free nations do not punish their civil servants for speaking up about public harm and for acting in accordance with their oath to office and their First Amendment rights.”A number of signatories view the letter as an act of Constitutional duty — one that enables the EPA to perform its legislative functions, as laid out in 1970 when it was founded by the Nixon administration.

Under Zeldin, the EPA has also pushed to “repeal all greenhouse gas emissions standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants” under the scientifically false premise that “they do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution,” the critics warn.

Referring to many of these policies, the letter to Zeldin stated: “Your decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come. EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety.”

Zeldin, who represented a large portion of Long Island in the House from 2015 to 2023 prior to his failed gubernatorial candidacy, was one of many surprising department picks last November.

During his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, he received a damning 14% score from The League of Conservation Voters. While he successfully preserved Plum Island and advocated for Fire Island shoreline protection, his tenure was marked by support for numerous pieces of anti-environment legislation and acceptance of over $400,000 in donations from the oil and gas industry.

Because of his track record, his nomination for administrator of the EPA was opposed by 42 senators, the third most ever recorded for the position. Only Andrew Wheeler and Scott Pruitt, nominees from the previous Trump administration, had more.

“What’s happening in our federal government, all across our federal agencies, is that we are having loyalty tests,” said Virginia Rep. Suhas Subramanyam at the press conference.

“We are hiring the people who are the least qualified but most loyal,” he continued, “and this is leading to a brain drain in our government, it’s leading to a brain drain in our country, and most of all, it’s hurting the safety, prosperity and health of the American people, and so we will continue to speak out.”

“I hope that others and other agencies will see the EPA 139 will stand up as well.”

Everett Kelley, the national president of The American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents over 750,000 federal workers also spoke.

“This is a coordinated campaign to send a message, and that message is simply this: if you speak out, guess what? You’re next. That’s the message. Now this is not just a threat for a few employees. It’s a threat to the entire civil service,” he said.

Virginia Rep. Don Beyer also took the podium.

“I served in the State Department for four years,” he said. “In the State Department, they have an award called the Rivkin Award. It’s been given out annually for more than 30 years to a State Department Foreign Service officer who comes forward with meaningful dissent to State Department’s policies. They actually reward people who say, ‘No, that’s wrong – I disagree, and here’s why.’”

Other speakers who criticized Zeldin included Jenna Norton, a signatory and organizer behind last month’s Bethesda Declaration and Maryland Reps. April Delaney and Glenn Ivey.

Individuals from EPA headquarters were scheduled to attend but were advised against doing so.

A few hours after the conference, three ranking members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce — Frank Pallone Jr., Paul Tonko, Yvette Clark — signed a letter addressed to Zeldin, calling his actions a “plainly illegal” violation of The Whistleblower Act which protects government employees who report concerns from retaliation.

“You must stop abusing your office and return these employees to their regular status immediately,” the letter urged Zeldin.