Lee Zeldin

From Grokipedia

Lee Michael Zeldin (born January 30, 1980) is an American attorney and Republican politician serving as the 17th Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency since January 2025. A native of New York raised in Suffolk County, Zeldin graduated from William Floyd High School before earning a B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany in 2001 and a J.D. from Albany Law School in 2003, becoming the youngest attorney admitted to the New York bar at age 23. He began his public service career in the New York State Assembly, representing the 10th district from 2007 to 2014, after which he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for New York's 1st congressional district, holding the seat from 2015 to 2023. Zeldin enlisted in the U.S. Army shortly after the September 11 attacks, serving 22 years including active duty with the 82nd Airborne Division and as a prosecutor in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, with a deployment to Iraq in 2006 as a captain. In 2022, he secured the Republican nomination for Governor of New York and came within 6 percentage points of defeating incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul in a race that highlighted shifts in the state's political landscape. During his congressional tenure, Zeldin focused on legislation supporting veterans' affairs, border security, and economic growth, while advocating for deregulation and energy independence; his nomination and Senate confirmation as EPA Administrator by a 56-42 vote reflected his alignment with priorities of reducing bureaucratic overreach in environmental policy.

In brief

Lee Zeldin came home from reserve duty and won a Long Island Senate seat, then the East End’s House district. The 1st is vineyards, bases, and ferry schedules; he held it as a Republican in a state that rarely mints them for statewide office.

The 2022 governor’s race was closer than the polls had promised. The EPA job that followed moved a district politician onto a national regulatory stage.