Lee Michael Zeldin, born January 30, 1980, in East Meadow, New York, is a Republican politician, lawyer, and military veteran currently serving as the 17th Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since January 29, 2025. He previously represented New York's 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023 and served in the New York State Senate from 2011 to 2014. Notable achievements include leading the repeal of the MTA Payroll Tax as a state senator, creating the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program for veterans with PTSD and TBI, saving Plum Island from sale, securing a $2 billion Electron Ion Collider for Brookhaven National Lab, and nearly winning the 2022 New York gubernatorial race with the highest Republican vote total since 1970. At the EPA, he has advanced deregulation, the "Powering the Great American Comeback" initiative, binational agreements on sewage issues, wildfire cleanups, and operational savings exceeding $30 billion.

Education and Political Experience

• Education: Graduated from William Floyd High School in Suffolk County; earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University at Albany; received a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School; sworn into the New York State Bar at age 23 as the youngest attorney in the state at the time.
• Military Service: Commissioned through Army ROTC; served four years on active duty as a Military Intelligence Officer, prosecutor, and military magistrate; deployed to Iraq in 2006 with the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom; continued in the Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel for 20+ years, retiring in May 2025.
• Early Career: Practiced law for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, then in private practice.
• Political Roles: Elected to New York State Senate ; U.S. House , where he focused on foreign policy, border security, military affairs, and antisemitism; Republican nominee for New York Governor in 2022; nominated by President Trump for EPA Administrator in November 2024 and confirmed by the Senate.
• Personal: Married to Diana ; father of identical twin daughters, Mikayla and Arianna; Jewish.