Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told Newsmax on Thursday that he has a message for Congress: Do not fund the EPA in 2025 the way you did in 2024.

In fact, Zeldin said the agency can run on 65% less.

"I don't want it. We don't need it. The American taxpayer needs it. That's our message to Congress," Zeldin said on "Rob Schmitt Tonight."

Zeldin announced earlier this week the cancellation of nearly $61 million in grants, bringing total taxpayer savings to $171 million in a month. Two weeks before that, Zeldin announced the agency found $20 billion "parked at a financial institution by the Biden-Harris administration."

"I have zero tolerance for any waste and abuse, and I want EPA to be operating as efficiently as possible," Zeldin said. "That means looking at grants and contracts, travel expenditures, real estate footprint and staff, too. We're looking at everything."

Zeldin highlighted $2 billion that the Biden administration gave to a climate group connected to former Georgia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

"I read the grant agreement. On page 7, it gives the NGO 90 days to complete a training called 'How to develop a budget.' If they need to complete a training called 'How to develop a budget,' how do you give them $2 billion?"

Bottom line, Zeldin called the operation criminal.

"Self-dealing, conflicts of interest, a lack of qualifications. And on top of it, it was done in a way where EPA was deliberately tying one hand behind its back to limit oversight. I think this is something the entire scheme should be investigated as criminal," he told Schmitt.

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