At a recorded hearing with Congress, Washington Senator Patty Murray asked Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin about a claim made by the New York Times concerning how officials directed scientists to assess whether traces of abortion pills can be detected in wastewater.
Zeldin’s response caused various commenters to express their frustration over his response, with some claiming that he dodged the question as a whole. The video was posted to the social media platform X by Zeldin himself, where he criticizes the question as a whole.
According to the specific video, Senator Patty Murray asked Zeldin, “Are you actually spending taxpayer dollars looking into medication for abortion being in the water?” Zeldin appeared to be confused, even responding with, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Murray clarified her question, saying, “Well, I am referring to a New York Times article that reported that senior officials have directed scientists in the EPA to look into this.” Zeldin responded to this saying, “Well, again, unless you are referring to a pharmaceutical that is on the list of hundreds of pharmaceuticals that are part of the contaminant candidate list. But aside from that, I am not aware of anything else in the agency other than that.”
The specific article in question was posted by the New York Times in October 2025. In the brief for the paywalled article, it states, “Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency found that they could develop methods to identify traces of the medication if necessary—a practice long sought by the anti-abortion movement.“
Reactions to Lee Zeldin Reportedly Dodging Senator Patty Murray’s Question
Commenters under the video were divided among those who agreed with Zeldin and those who believed he did not answer the question. Concerning the latter, one comment in particular said, “You just made yourself look like the condescending prick you are. She said it the first time. You clearly knew what she meant and yet you outright lied. You don’t deserve the air you get to breathe.”
Other comments were focused on Murray’s question as a whole, believing that it was not an intelligent one to begin with. One person wrote, “First off, she is a dinosaur with a tiny bandwidth. Second, she cites a NY Times article. The NYT is a progressive left wing news rag. Quoting them would be like quoting the DNC. Third, she would never be reelected if Washington state did not have all mail in balloting, required proof of citizenship to register to vote, submitted to a voter roll audit and investigated campaign contributions to her reelection campaign.“
As the clip continues to gain momentum on social media, users continue to express their frustrations and leave their opinions in the replies.
