President-elect Donald Trump is running fast to appoint members of his cabinet and administration — Some of them will oversee major government agencies on everything from clean water and air to how our public lands are managed and energy.
What Trump’s picks can accomplish depends largely on the agency they oversee.
Here are the responsibilities of these potential chiefs of staff after taking office.
Environmental Protection Agency
Trump struck first Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin will head the Environmental Protection Agency.
“It will ensure fair and swift regulatory decisions that will be implemented in a way that unleashes the power of corporate America while maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said. “It will set new standards in environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”
The EPA It works to protect the environment of the United States, especially in relation to human health.
Congressman Lee Zeldin, Republican candidate for governor of New York, speaks on stage at a pre-election party in New York, Nov. 8, 2022.
Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images
The includes agencies scientists studying environmental issues in labs and academic institutions across the nation, through environmental laws passed by Congress that set national standards and grant programs that fund community cleanups, recycling infrastructure, electric school buses, and more. .
The “deregulatory decisions” that Trump referred to in Zeldin’s announcement are widely expected by environmental groups in Biden-era regulations and environmental protections on things like emissions standards for vehicles and power plants.
Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement — a youth-led climate advocacy group — said Zeldin’s selection is “another example of Trump filling his administration with incompetent loyalists who lack the necessary skills to run vital federal agencies.” . like the Environmental Protection Agency.”
Shiney-Ajay called Zeldin’s record on climate “terrible” and highlighted aspects of his congressional voting record, including voting against the Biden administration’s flagship climate legislation, the Cut Inflation Act.
Zeldin’s record during his time in Congress also includes a number of pro-environmental votes that suggest concern about water issues, including votes to allow the EPA to implement it. PFAS drinking water standards and reauthorize Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Department of the Interior
Trump beat him North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior.
DOI manages the nation’s natural resources and public lands, in addition to navigating relationships with local tribes and conserving the environment and endangered species.
Under the Biden administration, the department has prioritized development of clean energyimproving Relations with Tribal Nations and conservation and restoration of public lands and waters “America the Beautiful” initiative.
In his official announcement about Burgum, Trump described the governor’s role as Secretary of the Interior and President of the newly formed “National Energy Council”. It will bring about “America’s energy dominance,” which was what the president-elect said on the campaign trail. He also expressed a desire to emphasize long-standing regulations, similar to his comments regarding the appointment of Zeldin as EPA administrator.
Trump said the “National Energy Council” will be made up of all the departments and agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation of all forms of energy in America.
“This board will oversee the path to U.S. energy dominance by cutting red tape, increasing private-sector investment in all sectors of the economy, and focusing innovation on long-overdue, but completely unnecessary, regulation,” Trump said in Burgum’s news release. the role
Burgum’s brief presidential campaign included energy as one of his top priorities, and the governor said he wanted to “significantly increase energy production“In the US
Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at the Republican National Convention, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
When it was announced that Burgum would lead the DOI under the Trump administration, Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity — a legal nonprofit that works to protect endangered species — said Burgum would be a “disaster.” the role
“Burgum will be a disastrous Secretary of the Interior who will sacrifice our public lands and endangered wildlife on the altar of fossil fuel industry profits,” Suckling said.
His home state of North Dakota is the third largest supplier of crude oil and has the third largest reserves, US Energy Information Administration. The state also relies heavily on coal-fired power plants, which provide 55% of its electricity, although the state has a large wind energy footprint with 36% of its power coming from wind power, according to the EIA.
Department of Energy
Trump has not named his choice yet Department of Energyresponsible for administering national energy policy, funding energy research, and managing the US nuclear infrastructure.
One of DOE’s major projects this year has been a study of the climate impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG), after the department announced a freeze on LNG export project approvals.
LNG production has increased during the Biden administration and Trump’s first term. As of 2023, the US is the world’s leading LNG exporter, he said EIA.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024.
Allison Robbert/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
On Friday, House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee released a letter urging current DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm to lift the suspension. saying exam The goal, “to link the administration of the host presidency”.
“The results of the 2024 presidential election are clear, and DOE’s leadership will change soon,” the representatives said. he wrote. “As a traditional part of a peaceful transfer of power, the DOE should immediately cease work on any plans to expand the scope of review or add new conditions to LNG export licenses. and the Court’s order.”
