Fiery Senate EPA Budget Hearing Presages Clashes to Come

The administration’s 55-percent slash in agency spending drew heated objections from Democrats in debates that devolved into shouting matches.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin testifies before a House subcommittee on May 20, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Trump administration’s proposed $4.2 billion fiscal year 2026 budget for the Environmental Protection Agency cuts its spending by 55 percent, slashes its 15,000-worker staff by at least a third, rolls back a broad slate of environmental regulations, and either rescinds or “claws back” billions in already approved grant appropriations.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s two-hour May 21 hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee featured heated exchanges, finger-pointing, and name-calling with Democrats over the administration’s plan.