A half dozen people with Long Island ties are among the cabinet members that President Donald Trump has nominated — some of whom have been swiftly approved by the U.S. Senate.
The Senate confirmed ex-U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), the former congressman for the East End, to serve as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as billionaire financier and former Hamptons homeowner Scott Bessent to serve as the next secretary of treasury. Pending confirmation votes as of press time were Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, a Jericho native who owns a home in Bridgehampton, to be the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Dr. Dave Weldon to oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Garden City native Kash Patel to be FBI director and Bill White, of Point Lookout, to be ambassador to Belgium.
“Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump said when nominating Zeldin. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet. He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”
Zeldin, who represented Long Island’s 1st congressional district — which encompasses the entire East End and now includes the North Shore of Suffolk County from 2015 to 2022 — was confirmed by a margin of 56-42. Democrats who crossed party lines to vote for Zeldin include Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, as well as Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. He replaces Michael Regan.
Zeldin forwent running for another term in Congress in 2022 to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in the gubernatorial election. While it was the closest race for Albany’s executive seat since 1994, Hochul ultimately prevailed. While in Congress, Zeldin was a staunch Trump supporter and voted against the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, contrasted Trump’s record as president with Zeldin’s record as a congressman on environmental issues.
“Citizens Campaign for the Environment congratulates Lee Zeldin on his confirmation as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Esposito said. “The past Trump administration has a track record of anti-environment actions, including rolling back critical water protections, attempts to halt renewable energy development, abdicating its responsibility to fight climate change, and prioritizing polluting industry profits over American’s health. In contrast, as a Congressman, Lee Zeldin fought to prevent offshore drilling on the East Coast, protected drinking water from PFAS, and supported offshore wind, all while living in a community directly impacted by climate change.”
Bessent is the administration’s second treasury secretary with Hamptons ties. The Senate voted 69-29 to confirm Bessent’s nomination on Jan. 25, with three Democrats not voting. He is the second openly gay cabinet member ever, the first out gay cabinet member of a Republican administration, and the second hedge fund manager to be named treasury secretary after Trump’s prior pick for the role, Southamptonite Steve Mnuchin. Bessent explained the reason he supports Trump’s proposed tariffs during the hearings.
“One will be for remedying unfair trade practices … For a more generalized tariff as a revenue raiser for the federal budget … [and] tariffs can be used for negotiations,” he told the senators. He also expressed support for Trump’s tax cuts, saying: “If we do not renew and extend them, then we will be facing an economic calamity, as always with financial instability, that falls on middle and working-class people.”
Bessent, who served as chief investment officer for George Soros’s family office until 2015, owned Wyndecote — one of the original Southampton summer colony cottages — from 2012 until 2019. He spent millions of dollars renovating the home, built in 1886, which he bought for $10 million and listed for $22 million. Its high-profile visitors were said to include the Duke of Windsor and the King of Spain. He replaces Janet Yellen, who served in the role under President Joe Biden.
The Senate was expected to confirm Lutnick as the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce. In the role, Lutnick will be tasked with carrying out Trump’s campaign promise to enact tariffs on products imported from other countries in a bid to boost American-made goods. He will replace Gina Raimondo.
“He will lead our tariff and trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” Trump said in a statement. “In his role as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen.”
Lutnick has worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, a high-profile Wall Street trading firm, for more than four decades. He survived the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center that claimed the life of his brother and 658 employees who were among the nearly 3,000 victims.
He has since dedicated himself to raising money to help 9/11 families — he serves on the Board of Directors of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum — and those impacted by other terrorist attacks and natural disasters worldwide.
The Jericho High School graduate bought his 40-acre Bridgehampton estate for $15 million in 2003 and later lost a lawsuit in which he tried to overturn a Town of Southampton denial of his request to build a basketball court on the property.
Weldon, a Farmingdale High School graduate who was born in Amityville, would replace the current head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Many Cohen, a Baldwin native.
Weldon is a former Florida representative whose nomination has sparked concern over his proposal, the Mercury-Free Vaccines Act, which aimed to ban vaccines with thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, that the CDC recommended. The bill was concerned with the development of “neurodevelopmental disorders” due to vaccines, which has been disproven by health specialists.
The CDC’s website says that there are concerns about vaccines’ relationship to autism spectrum disorder.
“Many studies have looked at whether there is a relationship between vaccines and ASD,” the website says. “To date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with ASD.”
The department website says there is no evidence of harm due to the low-level dosage of thimerosal in vaccines.
In 2007, Weldon sponsored the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act that transferred CDC responsibilities to other Department of Health and Human Services agencies. The bill was designed to monitor “adverse events following vaccination” and establish “prevaccination screening methods.”
Weldon’s previous anti-vaccine track record has created controversy at the local and national levels. If confirmed, he will manage and direct the CDC’s oversight and development of disease prevention and control initiatives.
The nomination of Patel — a former national security official and prosecutor who authored a 2023 book titled “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth and the Battle for our Democracy” — was among Trump’s most controversial. Democrats grilled him for what critics say is his willingness to believe conspiracy theories and fears that he will use the FBI to attack political rivals.
“Our nation needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission, is ready on day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Illinois).
The Suffolk and Nassau PBA presidents both endorsed Patel for FBI director.
“As a Garden City resident, he understands the challenges our officers face on Long Island and has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to strengthening law enforcement partnerships at every level,” said Lou Civello, president of the Suffolk County PBA.
Thomas Shevlin, president of the Nassau County PBA, agreed.
“We need leaders who not only support law enforcement but actively work to ensure our officers have the tools they need to keep our communities safe,” he said. “Kash Patel has a proven track record in national security and law enforcement collaboration, making him the ideal candidate to lead the FBI.”
As for White, the Point Lookout native nominated for ambassador to Belgium, the former president of the Intrepid Air & Space Museum may be the most bipartisan of the bunch, as he has been eyed for positions in Democratic and Republican administrations.
Read also: Why was Trump able to flip Nassau County to Republican?
