Former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum (R.) and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin (R.), President-elect Donald Trump's picks to lead the Interior Department and EPA, respectively, appear to have a glide path to Senate approval following their confirmation hearings Thursday.
Burgum and Zeldin—who, if confirmed, will oversee the bulk of Trump's aggressive energy and deregulatory agenda—faced a wide range of questions related to permitting, energy production, fossil fuel leasing, green spending, and federal land management. The tensest moments of the hearings came when Democrats challenged the nominees on climate change and the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.
The two nominees broadly promised to roll back the Biden administration's environmental regulations, instead focusing on an all-of-the-above energy agenda that does not discriminate against oil, gas, and coal. The hearings came as Biden has used his final days in office to further crack down on domestic oil and gas production with actions that will act as roadblocks for the incoming Trump administration and its "drill, baby, drill" agenda.
"The American people have clearly placed their confidence in President Trump to achieve energy dominance. And by 'energy dominance,' that's the foundation of American prosperity, affordability for American families, and unrivaled national security," Burgum remarked during his hearing hosted by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "Today, America produces energy cleaner, smarter, and safer than anywhere in the world."
"When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn't reduce demand, it just shifts production to countries like Russia and Iran, whose autocratic leaders not only don't care about the environment, but they use their revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies," he continued.
Trump's energy agenda will "end those wars abroad and make life more affordable for every family," Burgum said.
Burgum faced several lines of questioning focused on how he would approach oil and gas leasing, which the Department of the Interior oversees. In response to a question from Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.), he said he would "absolutely" issue more leases and suggested the Biden administration's policy on leasing violates federal law.
"[Our Land] is America's balance sheet, and if we were a company, they would look at us and say 'wow, you're really restricting your balance sheet.'"@DougBurgum on tapping the potential of America's vast land and resources. pic.twitter.com/iJ2WKHFeci
— Power The Future (@powerthefuture) January 16, 2025
Burgum also noted his familiarity with how endangered species protections have been used to attack energy development on federal land. He remarked that he supports the multiple use mandate that requires the federal government to allow a variety of uses on public lands, such as recreation, resource development, timber harvesting, and grazing. The Biden administration has sought to restrict some uses while introducing new conservation uses.
In one of the more heated exchanges during the hearing, Sen. Angus King (I., Maine) pushed back on Burgum's description of green energy sources as "intermittent." Burgum responded that those sources, such as wind and solar, are in fact intermittent because they are dependent on favorable weather conditions to produce power.
.@DougBurgum keeps SHUTTING DOWN climate doomers:
Angus King objects to him using the word "intermittent" for wind/solar and "baseload" for coal/gas. Burgum educates the Maine senator:
"It's not for any political reasons that I distinguish [them]. It's just because of… pic.twitter.com/8s8AZEXh50
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 16, 2025
"It's not, for me personally, for any political reasons that I distinguish," Burgum told King. "It's just because of physics, the physics of the grid. … It's the baseload that we have that's allowed our nation to make the investments into the intermittent."
"We need a balance," he continued. "This is a fact of life, is they're intermittent. When they're intermittent, until we have storage solutions—and we're years away from having significant enough cost-effective storage to support that—we need to have the baseload or the intermittent doesn't even have a life."
During his hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, meanwhile, Zeldin promised to uphold the EPA's mission and to take action to protect the environment without suffocating the economy. He also repeatedly told senators that, if confirmed, he would prioritize compliance with the law, improve the agency's stewardship of taxpayer money, and maintain transparency with Congress.
"Success is defined for many, including me, as leaving this world better than we found it. I want every child in this nation—including my daughters and your children—to inherit a world with clean air, clean water, and a thriving economy," he said. "This mission must transcend politics, and I look forward to working with all of you to achieve it."
During an exchange with committee chairwoman Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.), Zeldin said he would ensure the EPA takes electric reliability and energy affordability into account when crafting regulations. The Biden administration has been criticized for prioritizing climate change over affordability, especially through rules pushing electric vehicles and forcing the closure of power plants.
Zeldin also vowed that, if he is confirmed, the EPA will not use lengthy environmental permitting to hold up projects that "otherwise would be and should be approved."
The former congressman also remarked during a back-and-forth with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) that he believes climate change is real. Sanders separately said that "beating up on China" is fashionable but that the United States needs to work with China to solve climate change.
"Senator, on many different issues, it is important not just to be working with nations that we are the strongest aligned with, but to also be in communication with, and engaged in dialogue with, countries that might be considered competitors—and also our greatest adversaries—and right now, China is an adversary in many respects," Zeldin responded.
BERNIE SANDERS: "I know it's fashionable to be beating up on China. It's good politics...We're not going to solve this crisis without working with China."
LEE ZELDIN: Yes we need to work with people who don't align with us, but let's not forget, "right now, China is an… pic.twitter.com/560wAM8Qrr
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 16, 2025