Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin got into a fiery shouting match with Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) on Monday during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the EPA’s 2027 budget request, after she blasted his budget proposal for sounding like a “climate change deniers manifesto.”
Advertisement
Zeldin immediately fired back, asking Rep. DeLauro where in the law it stated that he was required to “fight global climate change.” He went on to cite not only the relevant statute, but also two major Supreme Court cases that ruled his administration cannot simply creatively interpret sections of the law for its own purposes, and slamed DeLauro for being unfamiliar with the relevant legal framework.
🚨 LMFAO! Purple haired psycho Rep. Rosa DeLauro goes BERSERK on EPA Admin Lee Zeldin because he’s not a climate change cultist
She starts becoming VISIBLY DISTURBED and says:
“You do NOT have the right to say climate change is a hoax!” 😭
She’s batsht. pic.twitter.com/zty9gOWpIv
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 27, 2026
“The budget proposal reads like a climate change denier’s manifesto,” Rep. DeLauro said. “When climate change is flooding our streets, poisoning our air, driving up health care and disaster cuts, how can the EPA justify abandoning that duty to protect Americans, to appease polluters under the false flag of economic growth?”
“Following the law, Section 202 of the Clean Air Act, where does it say anything about fighting global climate change?” Zeldin asked. “Loper Bright (Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo), Supreme Court case, you’re familiar with it?”
Advertisement
“No, maybe others are, I’m not.”
“But that’s really important,” he said. “As a member of Congress, Loper Bright says that we, as an agency, don’t have the authority to get creative. If section 202 of the Clean Air Act…”
“No, no, but you don’t have, excuse me, you do not have the right to say climate change does not exist, that it’s a hoax, and that’s where this administration is coming from,” DeLauro exclaimed.
“I understand you’re upset that you don’t know what Loper Bright is,” Zeldin replied. “Do you know what the major questions doctrine is? You’re a member of Congress, you should know.”
Loper Bright was a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 2024 that overturned the Chevron deference doctrine, which had required courts to defer to a federal agency’s reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutes it administered. The Court held that the Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to exercise independent judgment when interpreting statutory meaning, rejecting deference even in cases of ambiguity. The ruling is widely viewed as curbing regulatory authority, particularly within agencies such as the EPA.
Similarly, the major questions doctrine limits federal agencies’ ability to make rules on issues of vast economic or political significance without clear congressional authorization.
Advertisement
The pair continued to spar over the relevant laws which DeLauro seemingly had no knowledge of.
“You know, you’re here because you need money from us, so halt for a second, and wait for the questions, and answer the questions,” Rep. DeLauro said.
“Well, I answered your question, and you didn’t like my answer because you don’t know what Loper Bright is, because you don’t know what the major questions doctrine is,” Zeldin said. “Because you’re asking about section 202 of the Clean Air Act, and you don’t read it. You don’t know what it says.”
“You’re just somebody who likes to have the microphone on,” he added. “You know what I have to do? I read the law. I read the Supreme Court cases. What you [should] do for your constituents is actually read statutes, read your Supreme Court cases.”
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
National Headline
