Lee Zeldin, the chief of the Environmental Protection Agency for the second Trump administration, has delivered a schooling to a purple-haired member of Congress on the law under which his agency operates.
It happened during a congressional hearing and left U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, literally stunned and flustered.
Nothing infuriates an uninformed Congressional Dem more than when they realize they voluntarily triggered a debate with someone who actually knows what they are talking about, reads federal statute and adheres to Supreme Court precedent. Today’s self-implosion by @rosadelauro was… pic.twitter.com/6HTgVjQCiE
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) April 27, 2026
DeLauro, on the House Appropriations Committee was insisting on her ideological agenda for the government when Zeldin said, “You’re upset that you don’t know what Loper Bright is.”
That’s a 2024 landmark case from the Supreme Court regarding the power of regulatory agencies.
“I’m upset — because,” DeLauro stuttered.
“You know what the major policy doctrine is?” Zeldin said. “You’re a member of Congress. You should know.”
That was a precedent that essentially limits the authority of federal agencies who sometimes have tried to demand changes with vast economic or political changes, without authorization from Congress.
“You want me to tell you what the two biggest Supreme Court cases are of the last few years?” Zeldin said.
DeLauro provoked the exchange with by being alarmed. She claims that the EPA’s 2027 budget request suggests climate change doesn’t exist.
She accused, “The budget proposal reads like a climate change denier’s manifesto. When climate change is flooding our streets, poisoning our air, driving up health care, how can the EPA justify abandoning that duty to protect Americans, to appease polluters under the false flag of economic growth?”
Zeldin explained to her the agency doesn’t have the power to make that decision.
DeLauro continued, “You do not have the right to say climate change does not exist, that it’s a hoax. And that’s where this administration is.”
Zeldin tried to explain to her how the agency operates under the rulings of the Supreme Court.
“You’re very defensive about not knowing the two biggest landmark Supreme Court cases of the last year with regards to your question.”
When you don’t have anything good to say, some advise to just not say anything at all. As for @rosadelauro, she apparently believes that when you don’t have anything good to say, you should instruct the person you are debating to kill themself. https://t.co/E5bwHhfSxt pic.twitter.com/AW9rFP0Fzc
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) April 28, 2026
Rosa DeLauro got discombobulated by @LeeMZeldin.
https://t.co/X6hAFth8Lf
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 28, 2026
She tried scolding Zeldin, telling him he would want congressional approval of the agency budget.
“I answered your question. You didn’t like my answer because you don’t know what Loper Bright is, because you don’t know what the major policy doctrine is,” Zeldin said.
DeLauro said, “I don’t have to listen to this B.S.”
“B.S. You think I made up these cases?” Zeldin said.
The EPA was given roughly $8.82 billion in the 2026 fiscal year. For 2027, Trump has requested just $4.2 billion for 2027.
It’s not the first time DeLauro has gone ballistic in recent days. Here she is losing her cool over raw milk, a product that people have used for generations.
83-year-old purple-haired Democrat Rosa DeLauro: “If I were the head of HHS, I would, by God, say, ‘Don’t take raw milk. It is dangerous to your health!” pic.twitter.com/NXNZBHah4W
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 17, 2026
‘Dangerous to your health!’ Purple-haired congresswoman melts down over raw milk
* * *
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
