Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin fired back at Democratic Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro on Monday while she tried to lecture him on climate change.
During a House Appropriations Committee hearing, DeLauro accused the EPA of “abandoning” its duty to protect Americans from climate change — which she alleged was “flooding our streets, poisoning our air”— though Zeldin challenged the premise that the agency is responsible for fighting global climate warming. When Zeldin challenged DeLauro to explain the significance of a major Supreme Court case and the major policies doctrine, she refused.
“Following the law, section 202 of the Clean Air Act, where does it say anything about fighting global climate change?” Zeldin asked. “Loper Bright [Enterprises v. Raimondo], Supreme Court case, you’re familiar with it? … But that’s really important. As a member of Congress, Loper Bright says that we as an agency don’t have the authority to get creative.”
“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 said.
“Do you know what Loper Bright is? Do you know what the major policies doctrine is? You know what the major policies doctrine is? You’re a member of Congress, you should know,” Zeldin said.
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Loper Bright, a landmark 2024 Supreme Court ruling, significantly limited the power of federal agencies to interpret their own regulatory authority and eliminated a requirement that courts defer to agencies’ interpretations of laws. The major policies doctrine restricts agencies from acting on major policy issues without authorization from Congress.
Zeldin also challenged DeLauro to explain another Supreme Court ruling West Virginia v. EPA, which was released in June 2022. In this case, the Court limited the EPA’s ability to regulate power plants’ emissions of greenhouse gasses.
“You’re here because you need money from us, so halt for the second, and wait for the questions, and answer the questions,” DeLauro said, visibly angry.
“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 policies doctrine is. Because you’re asking me about section 202 of the Clean Air Act, and you don’t read it,” Zeldin said. “You don’t know what it says. No, I actually read the law. I do my homework. You’re just somebody who likes to have the microphone on. You know what I have to do? I read the law. I read the Supreme Court cases.”
DeLauro accused Zeldin of making up “a whole lot of BS.”
“BS? You think I made up these cases?” Zeldin asked.
“Yeah, I think you have made up a whole lot of BS,” DeLauro said.
“I made up Loper Bright. I made up West Virginia v. EPA. I made up Michigan v. EPA,” Zeldin said sarcastically, referring to a 2015 Supreme Court ruling that also limited the agency’s power.
Zeldin stated on X that DeLauro was infuriated because she entered a debate with someone “who actually knows what they are talking about, reads federal statute and adheres to Supreme Court precedent.”
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