Highlights from House and Senate Appropriations Committee Hearings with Administration Officials
In hearings with House and Senate appropriators, Secretaries Zeldin, Duffy, and Kennedy faced bipartisan criticism and questions over DOGE’s approach to federal layoffs, aggressive impoundment of funds despite a number of court injunctions, and agencies’ general ability to fulfill their statutory obligations.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Date: May 14, 2025
Recording
House Appropriations Ranking Member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) hammers HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. over the Administration’s illegal impoundment actions; asks what special phone number there is for Democrats to protect funding to federal programs like Republicans do.
Rep. DeLauro: “[T]he OMB Director has indicated that you are going to illegally impound billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated funding for NIH research in 2025. To make matters worse, you are proposing to cut NIH funding by $20 billion in 2026. You do not have the authority to do what you are doing. Congressman Hoyer pointed out very clearly and explicitly.
You don’t have the authority. This administration does not have this authority. Your reorganizing of the NIH, you don’t have the authority; that is in the jurisdiction of the United States Congress. You want to eliminate five agencies, you want to create a new agency. Once again, I don’t mean to be repetitive, but I do mean to be repetitive. You do not have the authority to do any of that.
Rep. DeLauro: “I have a question which has to do with NIOSH. And you’re not to have to answer this question. But I don’t understand why Republicans get to call you to spare offices, like NIOSH, who do Democrats have to call? Is there a special phone number if I want to save tobacco prevention, lead poisoning? Nine million children were lead poisoned in Flint, Michigan; 9 million kids.”
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. commits to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) that HHS will spend dollars appropriated by law from Congress.
Rep. Hoyer: You’ve answered in the sense that once the budget is adopted, you need to carry that out. Now, whether that was President Trump that signed that budget, or President Biden that signed that budget? I presume your premise is the same?
Sec. Kennedy: I think you’re asking me a rhetorical question, because…
Rep. Hoyer: It’s not a rhetorical question. It’s whether or not you think once the Congress says we’re going to spend X number of dollars on X objective, Y objective, that you will follow that?
Sec. Kennedy: Yes.
Rep. Hoyer: Okay. That’s the answer I wanted.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) criticizes HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s handling of FY24 funding and questions the lack of transparency from HHS.
Rep. Baldwin: “We are also seven and a half months into this fiscal year. And yet you are not telling the American public anything about how you are spending the billions in taxpayer dollars right now. You had to submit an operating plan to the Congress. And this is just a sample page.
But 530 programs simply have asterisks. Secretary Kennedy, this isn’t about your hiding information from me. This is about you hiding information from the American public. And if you’re going to cut cancer research or gut mental health support, at least stand by your work and explain it to the American people.
Now, Secretary Kennedy, I want to start with what I hope is an easy question for you. Do you think lead poisoning in children is a significant concern? Is lead poisoning in children a significant concern?”
Sec. Kennedy: “It is a extremely significant concern.”
Rep. Baldwin: “Then I would like to know why your Department has effectively shut down the very program to address lead poisoning in children. The City of Milwaukee requested assistance from the CDC to help the city respond to lead poisoning cases tied to public schools. Six schools have been closed, displacing more than 1800 schoolchildren, the request for federal assistance was denied because of lack of staff, the entire childhood lead poisoning branch has been fired. In the words of a Milwaukee mom, it really sends a message of, “You don’t matter.” I don’t know what you would say to parents who must now test their children for lead and deal with school closures. But do you intend to eliminate this branch at CDC, yes or no?”
Sec. Kennedy: “No, we do not, okay.”
Rep. Baldwin: “Because you cannot tell us that you want to make America healthy again, when you are willfully destroying programs that keep children safe and healthy from lead poisoning. Congress dedicated $51 million in funding for this particular program. But when a community asks for help to prevent lifelong complications for children, and there was no one there to pick up the phone. And it’s not because this program is ineffective.
It’s because you fire the entire team whose job it is to support communities like Milwaukee.”
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Date: May 14, 2025
Recording
Senate HELP Ranking Member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) highlights the harmful implications of DOGE and HHS’ cuts to critical programs for serious illnesses in the U.S. and abroad.
Senator Sanders: “Elon Musk, the richest man on earth, who has led the effort to cut health and nutrition programs for the poorest people on Earth. Has absurdly suggested that no one quote-unquote, no one has died from the massive cuts to USAID; Mr. Musk is 100% Wrong. According to independent researchers, nearly 200,000 people have already died throughout the world as a result of the massive cuts in funding to prevent malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, malnutrition, and other serious diseases.
Further, as a result of the elimination of U.S. funding for a global vaccine program, it has been estimated that over a million children will die because of the cuts that will save taxpayers very, very little money.”
Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) asks HHS Secretary Kennedy how NIH can carry out the laws passed by Congress to combat Alzheimer’s Disease if DOGE has laid off thousands of staff who do the research and implement the law.
Sen. Collins: Mr. Secretary, nearly 7 million Americans are living with the Alzheimer’s disease and caring for people with this devastating chronic disease costs some $360 billion a year. I am the author of a law that’s known as the BOLD Act.
It takes a public health approach to Alzheimer’s that educates providers, promotes earlier diagnosis. It helps caregivers. And it also promotes lifestyle changes. I have worked very hard to make sure that HHS has the resources to carry out this law, which was just recently extended.
I’m concerned that the reductions and force of approximately 10,000 staff across HHS will completely undermine this act. And this act in many ways is very consistent with your approach of looking at public health issues for chronic diseases. For example, the Healthy Aging branch administers the BOLD Act, for Alzheimer’s, it has lost all of its staff. So how can you ensure that the CDC continues to implement the bold Act and the Alzheimer’s programs under it, when all of the staff responsible for the administration have either been placed on administrative leave or let go?
Sec. Kennedy: I don’t know enough about that program. But I know that under that division at Division has been folded into the agency for Healthy America. And a lot of the reports that whole divisions have been liquidated, were just wrong. They were divisions that were being reassigned under the reorg.
I’m under a constraint here, because at four o’clock yesterday afternoon, we were told that there would be a federal judge granted a TRO. And our case on the reorg. And my attorneys have asked me not to talk about any details of the reorg today. So I bid on that budget, I will work with you.
I’m committed, you know, Alzheimer’s runs in my family. As you know, you know, my cousin Maria Shriver, who’s deeply involved in it. The NIH had a very, very checkered history on studying Alzheimer’s because of the amyloid plaque scandal. And we have an opportunity now to do really good science and find a cure very quickly and also find out equally importantly, why so many people are getting Alzheimer’s in this generation.
I want to make that happen. I want to work with you, Senator, to make sure that that happens, and that those programs continue.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy testifies in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Date: May 14, 2025
Recording
Secretary Duffy says he is going to further illegally impound funding appropriated by law in exchange with Rep. Espaillat (D-N.Y.).
Rep. Espaillat: I’m glad you acknowledge this. The skinny budget falls short. And I’m glad you brought up the infrastructure bill, because my next question is localities across the nation are expecting Federal Transit grants to complete capital projects. Can you confirm for the record, that you will honor the department’s existing full funding grant agreements?
I mean, people across the country are waiting for these agreements to be honored.
Sec. Duffy: Yeah. So yeah, there’s been a couple of grant agreements that I’m not going to honor, right. There’s some with some studies that we’re going to do in certain universities that I don’t think that they provide good use to the federal taxpayer. But I can’t, I haven’t come across a slew of issues that I wouldn’t find.
Again, I might not fully agree with them. But if the last administration announced them and you expect them and I, by and large, these are We’re all going to get grant agreements. But just so you know, there is this massive backlog, I wish it would have been done before I got there. But I’m going to work with the whole Congress.
Appropriations Chair Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) defends Congress’s power of the purse in his opening remarks of hearing with Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
Rep. Womack: The administration has undertaken efforts to seriously overhaul the federal bureaucracy, while also taking a hard look at where our taxpayer dollars are being spent. To value an effort that our House majority supports. I want to make something clear: efforts to restructure the Department of Transportation without congressional approval to not execute programs appropriated by this Committee, or to not give proper congressional notification when awarding or amending grants concerns me. Article I of the Constitution is clear.
It gives Congress through this Committee, the power of the purse. I know that you as a former member of this body understand this. We want to have a partnership with you to ensure we’re providing DOD with necessary resources.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin testifies in front of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Date: May 14, 202
Recording
Senate Appropriations Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) leads a chorus of Members questioning EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin over canceled and frozen grants.
Sen. Murkowski: “But my concern this morning, and what you will hear from me and I think many others is the approach that’s been taken with regards to freezing funds, canceling grants, and then the reorganization of the agency.
… But the seemingly indiscriminate freezing of EPA funding, regardless of source, has caused some significant anxiety from the folks that I’m talking to in Alaska.
One example is the community change grants. In my state, we received 150 million from this program. It’s communities like the little village of Kipnuk, it’s the native village of Kotzebue took a lot of work to get to the place where they were able to secure the funding. And they’ve had their grants cancelled by the agency without any explanation.”
Facing questions from Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin claims impoundment and freezing of EPA funds is legal.
Senator Merkley: “So as you can tell from my opening statement, I’m very concerned about the issue of impoundments. Are you familiar with the concept? You understand that it involves freezing funds that are to be allocated by law.”
Zeldin: “Senator, I’m familiar with the impoundments. So understand we’re having this conversation in the middle of the fiscal year as opposed to after the fiscal year.”
Senator Merkley: “Do you understand that the Constitution of the United States assigns the power of the purse to Congress? And do you follow that understanding?
Zeldin: Absolutely.
Senator Merkley: And so you understand that when you impound funds, you are violating the law?”
Zeldin: “No, Senator, we are going to follow all statutory obligations, and we will abide by all laws.”
Senator Merkley: “But you’re not, you’re impounding funds, violating the law.”
Zeldin: “We absolutely disagree with you very strongly.”
Senator Merkley: “And the courts have also found it’s not just against the law, it’s unconstitutional.”
Zeldin: “If you’re citing a particular district court judge, Senator, that’s one thing. But there’s a lot of district court judges coming up with their own interpretations of the law that will go through litigation processes.”
Senator Merkley: “Well, the Supreme Court of the United States has weighed in. And do you consider the Supreme Court not to be the legitimate source of decision making?”
Zeldin: “Of course, the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land”
Senator Merkley: “And why are you not following the Supreme Court’s understanding of the Constitution and the law?”
Zeldin: “We are following all laws and the Constitution.”
Senator Merkley: “So then why have you frozen $1.7 billion and EJ grants illegally and unconstitutionally.”
Zeldin: “They are neither illegal or unconstitutionally frozen, Senator.”
Merkley: “Are they legally frozen?”
Zeldin: “Yes.”
Merkley “Under what authority of the law?”
Zeldin: “Senator Congress appropriates funding and then say if the button administration’s in place last year, and they’re there at the beginning of the fiscal year, they might apply their own administration’s policy priorities. So they might decide to send money to, say, the state of Alaska. And they might include aspects of fighting for equity or education instead of remediation.
Merkley: But it wasn’t the Biden Administration that passed this law; it was Congress. And so this is in the law as written and signed by the precedent. And yet you’re defying it.
Senator Merkley explains to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin how the Administration’s illegal and unconstitutional impoundment actions make the appropriations process impossible and that Administrator Zeldin should resign if he cannot follow the law.
Sen. Merkley: You understand that impounding funds essentially makes the appropriation power of Congress very difficult. We have to reach decisions about funding that is important to Alaska to Oregon, but also to every region of the country. And if then we strike this law, we strike these decisions to help address environmental issues in every part of the country. And then the executive comes along says we want the power of the purse, we’re going to treat these laws as suggestions.
We’re going to freeze these funds for programs we don’t like or regions we don’t like or congressional districts we don’t like, that that completely undermines the dialogue and the ability here in Congress to produce bipartisan bills.
Zeldin: Senator, I don’t know if on either side of the dais I’ve ever heard one round of question, more premise of questions that I possibly disagree with. Why I refuse to waste a dollar of tax dollars period.
Sen. Merkley: Since you are violating both the law and the Constitution, will you follow your oath and if you can’t follow your oath, will you resign from your office?
Zeldin: Yeah, Senator, listen, you like to preface your questions with declaring everything unconstitutional and illegal, we couldn’t possibly disagree more strongly with what you’re saying. What I do believe would be illegal is for me to play along where I’m seeing unqualified recipients getting funding where I see an entity, like a $2 billion dollar recipient that gets $100 of GGR funds in 2023. And then they get $2 billion in 2024. When I see self dealing and conflicts of interest, loading up recipients of people who are Biden officials and Obama officials and Democrat donors, when I see wording of financial agent agreements and account control agreements that tie the hands of the EPA behind its back. Will I play along with that? No, absolutely not.
Sen. Merkley: In which case you should resign because the President is involved in a level of self dealing that we have never seen before. Madam Chair, I will just conclude by saying this issue of impoundments is an extraordinary challenge, the Supreme Court has ruled twice the Constitution is clear you took an oath to the Constitution, and it’s extremely destructive of our legislative process for you to be engaged in this.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is unable to answer Senate Appropriations Ranking Member Patty Murray’s questions about an extreme weather grant that was cancelled in Washington state.
Senator Murray: “Finally, your agency has been cutting billions of dollars in grants indiscriminately irrationally across the country, including in my home state of Washington. And I want to give you an example, wildfire, and extreme heat waves they are major threats to public health for a lot of the country.
A few weeks ago, the EPA terminated a grant that would have made sure community centers in Spokane had the infrastructure needed to serve as a refuge during extreme weather and wildfire emergencies. There was no explanation for that cancellation. That is a community that saw 19 people die and over 300 people hospitalized during a heatwave a few short years ago, where wildfires are a constant threat. So let me ask you, is it woke to protect people from wildfires and heatstroke?”
Zeldin: “I don’t know if you’re gonna get anyone in America to answer yes to the way you put that question out there.”
Senator Murray: “Well, is it inefficient? Is it wasteful? Why was this grant eliminated?”
Zeldin: “Well, there are hundreds of grants, I would have to have that individual grant in front of me one of the while when Congress sets an appropriated level on a particular type of grant, we need to make sure that over the course of the fiscal year that that money is appropriated.”
Under questioning from Republican Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin commits to following appropriations directives from Congress.
Senator Rounds: “My suspicion is that Congress will seriously consider re appropriating those funds again, would it be fair to say although there has been some suggestions that you’re not following the law and so forth, and we appropriated and directed, it’d be put back into those revolving loan funds. You’ll follow the law, and you’ll see that it’s been done”
Zeldin: “Of course, yes, sir.”
Senator Rounds: “Okay, so I just appreciate that because I do. And, you know, the misunderstanding is that somehow that you’re not going to follow along on this when Congress puts it in? And we say, no, we want it back in and it should go back out to the States.
At that stage of the game, we can count on you working with us to get it done appropriately.”
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) questions EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin over the cancellation of an air pollution grant for a local community in southern Georgia. Zeldin claims that the grant was cancelled because it ran contrary to the Trump Administration’s DEI policies.
Senator Ossoff: “So there was great news for the good people of Thomasville last year when they want an EPA grant to help build a new health clinic, rehabbing the Jim in the school to build a new federally qualified health center near three daycare centers, as well as to upgrade wastewater infrastructure.
Earl Williams, who leads the Thomasville community development corporation called the grant a game changer. Mayor Mobley said the award represented a quote, transformative opportunity to make vital health and safety improvements. But Administrator you cancelled the grant. And I’d like to know why.”
Zeldin: “So I’m looking at this was part of the environmental and climate justice block grant program.”
Senator Ossoff: “That’s right.”
Zeldin: “So the and this gets to an earlier interaction that we hear that we had and Senator Rounds got that got added as well. When Congress appropriates a block of funding, and administration is going to apply their policy priorities to how that money is going to get spent.
A new administration comes in, we still have to spend the appropriated funding unless something changes administratively with respect.”
Senator Ossoff: “I understand the appropriations process. My question is why you cancelled this grant. What is it about building a new health clinic and upgrading wastewater infrastructure for my constituents in Thomasville, Georgia, that’s inconsistent with administration policy.”
Zeldin: “So, I don’t have the full grant in front of me, I will have a top line that which program it it came out of so when a new administration comes in and they apply their policy priorities”
Senator Ossoff: “You’re repeating yourself. My question is why you cancelled this grant.”
Zeldin: “So when the new administration comes in, in this case, President Trump put out executive orders as it relates to environmental justice. With regards to DEI I would imagine that…”
Senator Ossoff: “What does that have to do with this, is a new health clinic for Thomasville, Georgia woke?”
Zeldin: “As I imagine, as we look through the details of the particular program there, there must be some aspects of this applying the last administration’s priorities on environmental justice.”
Senator Ossoff: “Here’s a community that suffered from air pollution and has a high disease burden as a result. Finally the federal government comes, they’re going to help build a health clinic and upgrade some infrastructure. You cancelled the grant devastating for the community. Here’s what the head of the Community Development Corporation said about your decision to cancel this grant denying my constituents a new health clinic and new wastewater infrastructure, a decision you made but hurts my constituents in Thomasville, here’s what he said, quote, “We all work so hard for this, and we won. And then all of a sudden, one day it’s gone. And it was just a great sense of disappointment. It was almost like, I lost a good friend.” He sent me another letter said, quote, “our community is devastated.” You hurt my constituents. And I don’t need a civics lesson on the appropriations process or a broad critique of this program. I want to know why you canceled this grant.”
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) questions EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin about unspent FY24 funding
Senator Murkowski: “Administrator, I had asked you, we had had a discussion about the congressionally directed spending projects, you have indicated that, indeed, we’ve got a backlog here that we need to address. My understanding is that since Fiscal Year 2022, Congress had directed 2,264 CDS projects at the EPA, only 705 have received the funding. So I think both of us would agree, you know, we’ve got an issue here, there’s a problem. FY25, of course, did not include the CDS project.
So I’m looking at that and saying, all right, the agency has the balance of the fiscal year to work on catching up from this backlog of the CDS is can you just give me a little bit of your understanding in terms of how you’ve directed your team to to expeditiously get these projects out the door in a more timely manner?”
Zeldin: “I appreciate the question, Madam Chair, the backlog goes back years. And I’ve directed my team to both work with the members of Congress who represent those areas, the members of Congress who requested those earmarks, to get assistance in in the case where the recipient has not been responsive, and simultaneously to try to engage as much as possible directly with the recipient to try to get the recipient to submit their paperwork, we want to we want to completely get through the entire backlog that we inherited as quickly as possible.”
Senator Murkowski: “Can we help you with that? I mean, yes, I mean, I’m working with my constituents right now, as we’re moving forward in this year’s appropriations and, and getting requests for CDS is, so can you perhaps, either let me know who it is on your team that we need to be communicating directly to? If there are snags on your and or perhaps again, you’re just not able to get in touch with the applicant 100%.”
Zeldin: “And as you well know, the EPA is broken down into all sorts of different program offices. And it might not be just one person for all grants, it might depend on whether the backlog might be talking about a backlog inside of the Office of Water, where they need assistance from the members of Congress, or maybe it’s another office, maybe it’s the Office of Air and Radiation. We would look forward to an opportunity to work with you and your team. And all members of Congress on both sides of the aisle as much as possible to eliminate the backlog that we inherited.”
Senator Murkowski: “Good. Good. Let’s do that. I think that’s a good plan. Many members here have asked about different grants and programs.
The pauses, the freezes. It’s been particularly frustrating in Alaska when we hear that there’s been a holdup. In terms of the grant awards. We’ve got just a limited construction season that is just hard.
And even if you’re not choked by ice, you might have a barge that comes up with your materials for a project maybe 20 maybe twice a season. And so it can push a project back. Not just months, but by another season, another year, perhaps multiple years. It’s been hard to provide some clarity to our communities on which grants are going to be awarded, which are just going through the review process that you’ve shared with us which grants have been terminated.
So I asked if your folks could provide a list of what’s actually been paused for review, versus what has been terminated? I think we’ve heard, for instance, you know, on the EJ grants, that that one has been perhaps more clear, but there are a lot in between? And I think it would, it would, it would help our communities if there was more certainty as to what has actually been terminated, versus what is still in the pipeline for review. So I’d ask for your help on that.”
Zeldin: “Absolutely. Madam Chair, and we will continue to be distributing funding appropriated by Congress as we go through the rest of the fiscal year that will include funds for your great, great state. And we look forward to working with you on the process. As you know, when the President first came in, there was an administration-wide pause that was lifted.
The pause that was then instituted for EPA was more specific to some of the Inflation Reduction Act programs. There was a clean School Bus program concern that was raised early in the administration when Lyon Electric and their bankruptcy issue caused some questions to be asked to make sure that the concerns with Lyon Electric were it was just specific to Lyon Electric. And as it relates to the grants that were cancelled, that’s something that if you have any questions about what was included in that, we’re happy to answer any individual questions.”
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) questions EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on the legality of impounding already obligated federal funding.
Senator Merkley: “Well, there was a kind of a procedural question embedded in that, which is if a grant has been already obligated, and so here, the community has contracted for design, perhaps for construction, isn’t it kind of deeply inappropriate to then undo that? At that point?”
Zeldin: “Senator, if it’s not consistent with administration priorities, depending on how the program was appropriated by Congress, and depending on what the details are that individual grant that grant can be subject to cancellation? Okay.”
Senator Merkley: “I, I will follow up with a question on specifically while these grants were funded, or unfunded. The second one is from a plan for a community health project to increase tree planning in a heat kind of dome section of a very poor part of Gresham, Oregon. And air conditioning and space to address respiratory illness is a community lives. The philosophy when you say it’s inconsistent with the philosophy of the government is is incoming government against addressing air conditioning to address heat emergencies or spaces to address respiratory illness during smoke emergencies?”
Zeldin: “You’re asking about a specific grant, I would need the details of that particular grant to be actually…”
Senator Merkley: “I was asking about what is the philosophy? Is that the philosophy of the incoming administration that you’re against your NP? And you may have under this for who knows what reason? But are you opposed to tree planning and spaces to address respiratory emergencies?”
Zeldin: “Tree planning is fantastic. We would encourage more of it, Senator.”
Senator Merkley: “Will usually look at these individual grants, which I’m sure there’s so many of them. I know that they were done with kind of a huge swath of cancellation, if you look at them go with well, there’s something about this that we pose we like to have community health centers bill. Is there a possibility we’ll restore those grants?”
Zeldin: “Senator, over the course of the rest of the fiscal year, it is our intent to continue to be spending money that was appropriated by Congress to fulfill our obligations and to follow the law. And it’s very well, we’ll end up including grants that were cancelled. The way that the grants may be finalized under new terms might not include whatever the particular aspect was that led to its cancellation the first time but I’m sure that there’s going to be many examples of grants that will end up going backwards or just not without yes.”
Senator Murkowski (R-Ala.) questions how the Reductions in Force and Fork in the Road have impacted the EPA’s ability to fulfill their statutory obligations and their mission.
Senator Murkowski: “So you’ve spoken to the adequacy to meet the PFAS mission? Are you concerned about your numbers EPA \-wide, to do your overall mission, not just specific to PFAS, but with everything else that you’re looking at, because the reduction in staffing is very significant. You’ve got to admit that.
And so you’ve got a big task. And we want you to be able to execute on that. So I just want to hear from you whether you have any concerns about your staffing levels right now.”
Zeldin: “Madam Chair, we are going to fulfill all statutory obligations. One of the things that was a surprise to me, coming into the position was just how many people who are employees at the agency, we’re not working on any statutory obligation at all. And I also want to say that there are a lot of amazing, dedicated employees at EPA, the American public might feel disconnected from agency employees who might be working in Washington, DC. But there are a lot of people who have been there for a long time.”
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