Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Canceling Biden-Era Environmental Programs

Government Shutdown and EPA Operations

• 💡 EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin confirms that all EPA employees are working and being paid despite the government shutdown.
• ⚠️ He states that employees are fulfilling statutory obligations, including emergency response and administrative policies.
• 🎯 Zeldin criticizes congressional Democrats for voting against reopening the government, contrasting it with the efforts of President Trump and congressional Republicans.

Cancellation of Biden-Era Environmental Programs

• 🚫 The EPA has canceled $7 billion in grants from the "Solar for All" program, intended to help homeowners install solar panels.
• 💰 Zeldin explains that Congress rescinded the money for program oversight and administration, and the program's structure involved multiple "pass-throughs" where each entity took a cut.
• 💸 The cancellation extends to the entire Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, totaling $27 billion, which Zeldin describes as being designed to "promote waste and abuse."

Combating Wasteful Spending and Fraud

• 📉 The Trump EPA has cut over $29 billion in grants, in addition to savings from real estate consolidations, staff efficiencies, and closing an unvisited EPA museum.
• 💰 Zeldin highlights that the canceled grants are three times the EPA's annual operating budget of approximately $10 billion.
• ✅ He asserts a zero tolerance policy for waste and abuse and states that these actions are necessary to fix the "mess" inherited from the Biden administration.
• 🎯 The programs, Zeldin claims, were designed by congressional Democrats under the Inflation Reduction Act to "pay off activist environmental NGOs, former Biden and Obama officials, [and] Democratic donors."