Lee Zeldin

Rule Changes

EPA Administrator; leading candidate for permanent attorney general; Senate Republicans signal openness to nomination

President Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 2, 2026, replacing her with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — the lawyer who defended Trump in his Manhattan criminal trial before joining the Department of Justice (DOJ). The move makes Blanche the fourth person to lead the Justice Department under Trump, following Jeff Sessions, William Barr, and Bondi herself. Within hours of Bondi's removal, Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans signaled they would consider Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin as a permanent replacement, though legal scholars raised questions about Blanche's ability to simultaneously serve as both acting attorney general and acting Librarian of Congress.

Updated Apr 3

Rule Changes

EPA Administrator, named defendant in multiple lawsuits

For seventeen years, the Environmental Protection Agency's 2009 endangerment finding—the determination that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases threaten public health—served as the legal foundation for virtually all federal climate regulation. On February 13, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin officially revoked it, eliminating the basis for vehicle emissions standards, power plant rules, and regulations on oil and gas facilities in what the administration called 'the largest deregulatory action in American history.'

Updated Feb 21

Rule Changes

Leading the agency's deregulatory agenda

For 50 years, states have held veto power over pipelines, dams, and power plants that cross their waterways. Now EPA wants to take it back. The agency proposed a rule on January 14, 2026, that would prevent states and tribes from blocking federally permitted energy projects based on anything beyond direct water pollution—eliminating the broader environmental reviews that have stopped projects like the Constitution Pipeline in New York.

Updated Jan 17

Rule Changes

Leading effort to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding and vehicle GHG standards

On December 3, 2025, President Donald Trump unveiled a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposal to slash Biden‑era Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, cutting the projected 2031 light‑duty fleet target from about 50.4 miles per gallon to roughly 34.5 mpg and phasing in only 0.25–0.5% annual increases instead of the 2% per year previously planned. The rule would also bar automakers from trading efficiency credits after 2028, a change that especially hurts EV‑focused companies that sell credits to gasoline‑heavy manufacturers.

Updated Jan 2

Rule Changes

Leading Trump administration rollback of Biden‑era climate and vehicle pollution rules

The EPA isn’t killing Biden’s vehicle pollution rules outright. It’s slow‑walking them to the edge of a cliff. A senior official says the agency plans to keep looser 2026 standards in place for two extra model years instead of enforcing tougher limits on smog‑forming pollution starting in 2027.

Updated Dec 12, 2025