The typical mild scope of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee was the site of Wednesday's clash between Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator for the panel that arbitrates his annual budget request, and Democrats.
Senator Adam Schiff, D-Calif. rattles off the list of cancers that Zeldin's agency claims could cause, and must be proud of how many regulations New York Republicans have cut in such a short time.
“Your legacy will be lung cancer. It will increase bladder cancer, head and neck cancer. There will be breast cancer, leukemia and pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, skin cancer, kidney cancer, testicular cancer, more testicular cancer, or colorectal cancer.
“If the kids were drinking Santa Ana's water, Mr Zeldin… maybe you'd care,” he said.
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“You're totally seen in the oil industry, so you need money for tax cuts for the rich,” Schiff denounced Zeldin for the illegal end of grants allocated to Congress.
“You can give a mouse about how much cancer your agency is causing,” Schiff said, and Sen. Cynthia Ramis (R-Wyo.) slams a small give to note that his time has passed.
Earlier in the hearing, Zeldin clashed over a review of Senator Sheldon White House and Grant, claiming that the administrators “can't straighten his story.”
The White House appears to argue that the EPA has not individually reviewed that it has not cancelled each grant, citing court testimony from Zeldin's official Travis Voyles, which had conducted a “individual review” as of February.
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Lee Zeldin, left, Adam B. Schiff, center, Sheldon White House, right (Getty Images)
“You guys have three completely different statements and you have to start straightening the story because they are not all true.
“He did,” Zeldin cut.
“…781 grant review –” the White House continued.
“He did it. I did it,” Zeldin cuts again.
“…and (Deputy Administrator Daniel) Coogan saw that it was done individually,” the White House said the two men spoke to each other.
Zeldin told the White House that after a little more interaction, it must be a “crazy concept” to think that multiple people can review hundreds of grants in question and multiple grants per calendar day.
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Zeldin said he and his EPA colleagues would “destroy their a-” to identify waste and abuse, and the White House was only interested in scoring political points.
“I use facts, as your employees have told them,” the White House insisted.
“Because we have a zero-tolerance policy against wasting dollars every day,” Zeldin shot back.
“You don't mind wasting your money,” he went on to add that Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), a member of the committee, had pledged at the pre-hearing that he would review grants that he would thus prioritize his tenure. “I have to come back here today before Senator Ricketts. I don't mind wasting tax money, but Senator Ricketts does.”
Fox News Digital contacted Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of Rw.v., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee for comment, but did not respond to the reporting time.
