Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) set his sights on a new target. During a recent Senate floor speech, Whitehouse called for EPA chief Lee Zeldin to leave office, accusing him of misleading Congress about how billions in environmental grants were reviewed.
Lyin’ Lee Zeldin deceived Congress, the courts, and the American people.
I’m calling on him to go. pic.twitter.com/clo0dpL0ny
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) March 27, 2026
Whitehouse is the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and used that platform to press his case that Zeldin can’t remain in his position, labeling the EPA administrator as “Lyin’ Lee.” He also argued that testimony about individualized grant reviews didn’t match internal records tied to over $1.7 billion in funding decisions.
On the Senate floor, he remarked, “Zeldin and his merry band of DOGE boys killed off grant programs based on ideas and phrases they didn’t like and wanted to cancel. None of this was based on the required individualized review he pretended to have done. That’s the Zeldin lie under oath. The Zeldin lie that is sanctionable. So for that reason, today, I’m calling on Lee Zeldin to go. It is bad enough that he’s weaponized the EPA to do the bidding of the giant fossil fuel and chemical corporations that donated to Trump’s campaign. But if he can’t be relied on to tell the simple truth to Congress, to answer simple questions honestly, how can anybody in this body believe him? Or is the new rule that lying is okay if it’s done for big polluters.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) joined the effort and backed the call for Zeldin to step aside, reinforcing a coordinated push from Senate Democrats to elevate the issue. Their argument centers on the claim that Congress received incomplete or inaccurate information during oversight hearings tied to climate and clean energy funding.
The pressure campaign extends beyond Capitol Hill, where a coalition of over 160 environmental and public health groups sent a strongly worded memo calling for Zeldin’s resignation or removal. They argue that he abandoned the core mission of the agency and redirected its priorities away from environmental protection.
Zeldin took office in January 2025 and quickly moved to halt or review hundreds of grants tied to climate and energy programs. He defended those actions as part of a broader effort to eliminate waste, restore accountability, and align the agency with the policy direction set by President Donald Trump. Zeldin supporters argue that those moves reflect a legitimate shift in priorities rather than misconduct.
Whitehouse framed those same decisions as evidence of favoritism toward fossil fuel interests and misuse of federal authority. He pointed to internal communications and legal filings to support his claims, arguing that the review process wasn’t as thorough or individualized as described in testimony.
Democrats scored a high-profile victory earlier this month when Trump removed Kristi Noem from her post as DHS secretary following sustained criticism over her leadership. That outcome demonstrated that sustained political pressure can produce results, and it’s clearly shaped the next phase of their strategy.
As Noem leaves the target area, Zeldin finds himself at the center of the next phase.
The pattern is becoming easier to see. One cabinet official comes under sustained scrutiny, pressure builds through hearings, speeches, and coordinated messaging, and once that effort yields results, attention shifts to the next name on the list. Whitehouse’s remarks made clear that Zeldin has become the next focal point.
At the same time, Zeldin continues to appear before Congress and defend his decisions under oath, maintaining that the agency’s actions fall within legal authority and reflect a deliberate policy direction rather than any attempt to mislead lawmakers. The dispute now hinges less on the existence of oversight and more on how that oversight is being used.
Whitehouse’s approach, which calls for resignation based on policy disagreements, risks turning oversight into a political weapon. They point out that changes to environmental rules and funding priorities often shift between administrations and that those shifts have historically been addressed through elections, legislation, or court challenges instead of removal demands.
Whitehouse shows no signs of backing off; his latest speech marked the 305th installment of his ongoing “Time to Wake Up” series, and he used it to place Zelden squarely in the spotlight. The broader effort now moves forward with a clear objective: increase pressure, sustain attention, and test whether the same strategy that led to Noem’s exit can produce another result.
For now, Zeldin stays, but the campaign against him is organized, persistent, and expanding, while signaling that the fight over the direction of the Trump administration is far from settled.
Zeldin finds himself in a better situation than Noem; his leadership of the EPA, for the most part, has been consistent and without the drama Noem brought to her job. The most controversial action the EPA has taken has been eliminating efforts to combat manmade global warming, a strike to the heart of the left’s golden child, the effortless grift they’ve been running for decades.
Whitehouse wasn’t going to let the climate drama drop without a fight.
Mr. President, I rise for the 305th time with my increasingly weathered, yet ever more relevant “Time to Wake Up” chart to warn this chamber about a corrupt danger to our country. A danger powered by fossil fuel industry money, orchestrated by myriad dark money front groups, and now executed at the highest levels of a corrupted Executive Branch.
In previous speeches, I described the Four Phases of Climate Denial.
- Phase One: bury the evidence.
- Phase Two: lie about the evidence.
- Phase Three: flood our politics with dark money to protect fossil fuels’ pollute-for-free business model.
- And now Phase Four, the most dangerous phase yet: weaponize the government itself to attack clean energy, protect polluters, and steamroll lawful process.
Today’s story is about a lie. We are now so deep in Phase Four that heads of executive agencies feel entitled to lie to Congress if it helps carry out President Trump’s fossil-fuel-captured agenda.
Removing those sources of money that leftist organizations relied on to line their politics with a largesse that they’ll never see again.
So, of course, the Democrats will strike out at the first person they see.
Then Zeldin walks into the line of fire.
The pressure campaign unfolding in Washington doesn’t stop with one official or one agency. It’s part of a larger effort to shape policy outcomes through sustained political force. If you want deeper coverage that follows these fights as they develop, join PJ Media VIP and get a full 60% off when you use promo code FIGHT.
