Fresh off his viral bout with Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin engaged in another heated exchange with Rep. Robert Menendez Jr., D-N.J., during a Tuesday session and afterward appeared to make a cryptic reference to the congressman's father, who was imprisoned for corruption.
Zeldin and Menendez Jr. sparred over the agency’s policy changes, which the Democratic lawmaker said are exacerbating climate change and related costs, as well as former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure and government waste, as Menendez became increasingly frustrated with the administrator.
In a post on X after the blowup, Zeldin quipped that Menendez Jr. "starts doing some really weird things with his hands when he starts hearing about 'gold bars' getting tossed around."
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Former Sen. Robert Menendez Sr., D-N.J., was dubbed "Gold Bar Bob" by the New York City press after federal prosecutors found gold bars in his home while investigating the corruption scandal that landed him and his second wife behind bars in 2025.
Earlier Tuesday, Menendez Jr. and Zeldin cut each other off as the lawmaker raised his voice during a line of questioning about how Zeldin would have managed New York on the environmental front if he had been elected governor in 2022 and faced with Trump-era policies.
Menendez asked whether Zeldin understood that climate change will reportedly create $45 billion in healthcare costs by 2050 after his agency rescinded an Obama-era "endangerment finding" that had governed greenhouse gas emissions and led to new consumer requirements like automobile "start-stop" features.
Zeldin had previously told DeLauro that she did not understand the Loper Bright Supreme Court decision that his office analyzed in making the change, while telling Menendez the rescission is in line with the Clean Air Act.
Menendez also pressed Zeldin on climate change’s role in Superstorm Sandy, which battered both their home states, and added that if he were governor, he would have to deal with millions in cuts to EPA grants, as well as the Trump administration’s reductions to Medicaid increases and added restrictions on what SNAP benefits the federal government would cover.
Zeldin quipped that it was "interesting" how those questions were posed.
"Because it’s either, or, right — what would you do if you were governor of New York?" Menendez shot back before Zeldin interjected to ask whether Menendez understood how liberal governance has cost New Jersey residents in his state:
"You know how much energy prices are up in New Jersey in the last five years?" Zeldin said before quipping that President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget does not account for "how much [Democrats] are going to raid it."
Menendez interjected that Zeldin has said "other crazy stuff today" and would move on, to which Zeldin spoke over him to accuse Democrats of "grandstanding" and not allowing answers.
A frustrated Menendez then turned to Chairman Morgan Griffith, R-Va., and asked "Are you going to do anything [about this] at some point?"
When Menendez pivoted to questioning President Donald Trump’s reported policy pledges to the fossil fuel industry, Zeldin shot back to ask whether the Democrat was going to allow him to answer.
"I’m going to start an answer and you’re going to cut me off – that’s how this works, right?"
In response, a fuming Menendez said he wanted to also ask about the Noem-era advertising campaign which he said cost $220 million.
When Zeldin tried to respond, Menendez boomed, "I’m talking."
"How about the conflicts of interest during the Biden EPA — how about the Gold Bars being thrown off the Titanic?" Zeldin shot back as the two talked over each other, and Zeldin could be heard pressing Menendez on why New Jersey and New York have seen about a 50% spike in energy costs under policies opposed to the Trump administration’s.
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As Menendez’s time expired, Griffith cut in to say that Zeldin was there solely to address EPA matters.
"He also has a right to answer the question, let’s try to be a little more civil on all parts," he said.
The gold bars reference cited a prior statement by Zeldin that Biden-era "throwing gold bars off the Titanic are over" and that "self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients, and intentionally reduced agency oversight pose unacceptable risk" in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund were ending under his tenure with the March 2025 termination of $20 billion in funding — a topic Menendez referenced in his criticism.
While some observers heard "gold bars" mentioned in the tense exchange and hearkened back to Sen. Robert Menendez Sr.’s federal case, in which gold bars were found in his possession, an EPA source told Fox News Digital that Zeldin was not directly referencing that scandal.
"When Dems hear the truth, they implode," Zeldin said in a statement on X.
Fox News Digital reached out to Menendez Jr. for comment on the uproar and the mention of gold bars during the exchange.
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