“You Are a Member of Congress. You Should Know.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has sat on the House Appropriations Committee for 35 years. She has helped shape every EPA budget since 1991. On April 28, 2026, she showed up to a hearing on the EPA’s most significant legal constraint — a landmark 2024 Supreme Court ruling — and had no idea what it was. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin noticed.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) · Ranking Member, House Appropriations Committee · In Congress since January 3, 1991
The hearing was routine on paper: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin appearing before the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee on Monday, April 28, 2026, to defend the Trump administration’s FY2027 budget request for the EPA. The request was not subtle — a 52% cut, from $8.82 billion to $4.2 billion, the largest proposed reduction to the agency in its history.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the Ranking Member of the full House Appropriations Committee and the most senior Democrat in the room, opened her questioning with a prepared attack: “The budget proposal reads like a climate change denier’s manifesto.” She challenged Zeldin to explain how the EPA could justify abandoning its climate mandate.
Zeldin’s response cited chapter and verse of the legal framework that now constrains the EPA: Section 202 of the Clean Air Act, the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA (major questions doctrine), the 2015 Michigan v. EPA decision (agencies must weigh costs), and — most crucially — the 2024 ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which abolished the 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference.
DeLauro did not recognize the case. Zeldin noticed immediately.
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, decided by the Supreme Court on June 28, 2024, is the most significant administrative law ruling since Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. NRDC (1984) — the case it overruled.
Established in Chevron(1984), the doctrine required courts to defer to a federal agency’s “reasonable interpretation” of any ambiguous statute it was charged with enforcing — giving agencies enormous latitude to expand their own regulatory power through creative statutory interpretation. Under Chevron, the EPA could read a vague provision of the Clean Air Act and say: “We interpret this to cover greenhouse gas emissions.” Courts had to accept that if it was “reasonable.”
For 40 years, Chevron deference was the primary tool agencies used to expand their jurisdiction without explicit congressional authorization.
In a 6–2 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court overruled Chevronentirely. Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), courts must exercise independent judgment when interpreting statutes — they no longer defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous language. Roberts wrote: “Under the APA, it thus remains the responsibility of the court to decide whether the law means what the agency says.”
The case was brought by Loper Bright Enterprises, a New Jersey–based family-owned Atlantic herring fishing company from Cape May, NJ, fighting a NOAA rule that required them to pay ~$710/day for federal monitors aboard their vessels — cutting annual revenue by ~20%. The Court sided with the fishermen. Chevron was dead.
What this means for EPA:The agency can no longer “creatively interpret” ambiguous Clean Air Act provisions to mandate climate policy. Courts — not the EPA — decide what the statute says. If Congress didn’t explicitly authorize it, courts can strike it down.
DeLauro — who has been writing checks to the EPA since 1991 and chairs the Democratic opposition to every cut Zeldin proposed — apparently did not know any of this.
All quotes below are confirmed across multiple outlets including Fox News, Washington Examiner, E&E News/POLITICO, RedState, and Hannity.com.
“The budget proposal reads like a climate change denier's manifesto.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), opening her questioning — April 28, 2026
Zeldin responded by citing Section 202 of the Clean Air Act, asking DeLauro where the statute explicitly authorized a mandate to fight global climate change. He then cited the three controlling Supreme Court precedents. When he reached Loper Bright, DeLauro indicated she was unfamiliar with the case.
“You don't know what Loper Bright is. You don't know what the major questions doctrine is.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, to Rep. DeLauro — April 28, 2026
Zeldin continued: “You are a member of Congress. You should know.”Then: “I actually read the law and did my homework.”
DeLauro, visibly agitated, attempted to reframe by reminding Zeldin of the power dynamic: “You’re here because you need money from us. So halt for a second.”
Zeldin did not halt. He pressed further on whether she believed he had fabricated the Supreme Court cases.
“I don't have to listen to this BS.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) — confirmed by Fox News, Washington Examiner, E&E News
“BS? You think I made up these cases?”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, immediate response
The exchange did not stop there. In a separate moment during the same hearing, Zeldin made a comment about glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup — noting it was safe at approved concentrations and should not be consumed directly. His exact words: “Don’t drink it. Don’t inject it.”
DeLauro’s response, directed at Zeldin: “Maybe you should try doing that.” She was suggesting, in a congressional hearing, that the EPA Administrator should drink or inject weed killer. She reportedly offered a quick apology shortly after.
After the hearing, Zeldin posted on X: “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.”
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 quite remarkable to witness. Without apology or regret, I will always adhere to the best available reading of federal statute pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright.
View on X →The official White House X account weighed in the same day, posting about DeLauro without elaboration.
Rosa DeLauro represents Connecticut’s 3rd Congressional District (CT-03), covering New Haven. She has been in Congress since January 3, 1991 — over 35 years. She was previously the first Connecticut woman to chair the full House Appropriations Committee, controlling $1.4 trillion in annual federal discretionary spending. In the 119th Congress she serves as Ranking Member — the top Democrat overseeing all discretionary spending, including every dollar the EPA receives.
DeLauro has helped write EPA budgets since 1991. She has championed EPA climate regulations across five Republican administrations. The 2024 Loper Bright ruling directly guts the legal foundation of those regulations. She did not know what it was when Zeldin cited it at her own budget hearing.
When Zeldin asked directly whether she was familiar with Loper Bright, her response was: “Maybe others are, but I’m not.”
The FY2027 Trump budget request for EPA is $4.2 billion — down from $8.82 billion in FY2026, a 52.4% reduction. State and tribal categorical grants, which fund state-level environmental enforcement, would be cut by approximately 91%.
The subcommittee’s Republican chair, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), conceded during the same hearing that Congress would not pass the full cut, saying:“You’re not going to see state and tribal grants cut by 83 percent. The EPA is necessary, and they do some good things.”In FY2026, Trump’s original ~54.5% request was reduced by Congress to a net 3.5% cut. The pattern suggests the FY2027 request is an opening position, not a final outcome.
Zeldin was confirmed as EPA Administrator on January 29, 2025. Since then:
- →Announced what the administration called the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history — plans to repeal or roll back dozens of major environmental regulations
- →Oversaw repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding (which declared greenhouse gases a public health threat), formally finalized February 12, 2026 — removing the foundational legal basis for most EPA climate regulation
- →Oversaw closure of the EPA's Office of Research and Development, reducing its ~1,500 staff to ~500 positions
- →EPA employment fell from 16,155 in January 2025 to 12,448 by mid-2025 — a 23% reduction; total cuts planned at up to 65%
- →Repealed the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards update — the subject of a second heated exchange at the same April 28 hearing with Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA)
- →Proposed a $30 million 'Make America Healthy Again' prize challenge in the FY2027 budget
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has spent 35 years on the House Appropriations Committee. She has championed EPA climate regulations through five presidencies. She arrived at an EPA budget hearing as the top Democrat on the committee — and did not know the single most consequential Supreme Court ruling governing what the EPA can and cannot legally do.
Loper Brightwas decided in June 2024 — nearly two years before this hearing. It was decided 6–2. It ended 40 years of regulatory doctrine. DeLauro ’s response when pressed: “Maybe others are, but I’m not.”
Zeldin’s response: “You are a member of Congress. You should know.”
The hearing ended with DeLauro telling Zeldin to halt because he needs her committee’s money. That is the Democrats’ actual argument: power over the purse, regardless of what the law says. Zeldin cited three Supreme Court cases. DeLauro cited her seniority.
- C-SPAN — EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Testifies on 2027 Budget Proposal (April 28, 2026)
- Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024) — Supreme Court opinion overturning Chevron deference
- West Virginia v. EPA, 597 U.S. 697 (2022) — Major Questions Doctrine
- Michigan v. EPA, 576 U.S. 743 (2015) — agencies must consider costs (Cornell LII)
- @EPALeeZeldin — Zeldin post-hearing statement on Loper Bright and DeLauro (April 27, 2026)
- @WhiteHouse — 'Terrible take. Even worse hair.' (April 27, 2026)
- Fox News — Top Trump official ignites heated exchange after stumping House Dem on SCOTUS case
- Washington Examiner — Zeldin and DeLauro spar over climate change doctrine: 'You think I made up these cases?'
- E&E News / POLITICO — 'Have your dog pee on it': Zeldin tangles with lawmakers during budget hearing
- Bloomberg Law — EPA's Zeldin Tangles With Democrats Over Trump's Budget Request
- Daily Signal — 'I Did My Homework': Zeldin Slams DeLauro Over EPA Budget Standoff
- Daily Caller — Lee Zeldin Infuriates Democrat After She Doesn't Know the Supreme Court Decision Limiting EPA
- RedState — Lee Zeldin Drops the Receipts on Rosa DeLauro in Budget Hearing
- Hannity.com — Zeldin Fires Back as DeLauro Melts Down at EPA Hearing
- RealClearPolitics — EPA Admin Zeldin vs. Rep. Rosa DeLauro: 'You're a member of Congress. You should know Loper Bright.'