WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday confirmed Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a key role to help President Donald Trump fulfill his pledge to roll back major environmental regulations, including those aimed at slowing climate change and encouraging use of electric vehicles.

Zeldin, 44, is from New York. He served eight years in Congress and lost a race for governor in 2022. He is expected to push deregulation.

The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Lee Zeldin as the nation’s 17th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Three Democrats ― Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.

President Donald Trump’s budget office has rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country.

President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with him at the White House on Feb. 4, making him the first foreign leader to receive an invitation to visit Trump in his second term.

U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff visited Gaza on Wednesday, then met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, U.S., January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb.