1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I am one of your constituents, and I am writing because I believe something illegal is happening inside the EPA — and I need you to do something about it.   The Trump administration has filled senior leadership positions at the Environmental Protection Agency with executives and lobbyists from the chemical, oil, and fertilizer industries — the very industries the EPA is supposed to regulate. This is not a matter of political opinion. It is a documented conflict of interest that violates federal law.   Nancy Beck spent years as a senior executive at the American Chemistry Council, a lobbying group that fights pollution rules on behalf of chemical manufacturers. She now runs the EPA office responsible for chemical safety. Lynn Dekleva worked for DuPont for over 30 years — the same DuPont responsible for contaminating communities across this country with PFAS "forever chemicals" that have been linked to cancer. She now helps set chemical policy for the rest of us. Alexander Dominguez lobbied for the American Petroleum Institute and now works inside the agency that is supposed to hold oil companies accountable. These are not fringe cases. According to the Associated Press, nearly half of Trump's EPA political appointees have direct ties to the industries they now regulate.   Federal law prohibits exactly this. 18 U.S.C. § 208 makes it a criminal offense for a government official to participate in decisions that financially benefit a former employer. The revolving door statute, 18 U.S.C. § 207, carries penalties of up to five years in prison for willful violations. The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 was created after Watergate specifically to prevent industry from capturing the agencies meant to police it. These laws are not suggestions.   The harm is not theoretical. In December 2025, the EPA revised its safety standard for formaldehyde and nearly doubled the exposure level it considers acceptable for human beings. That change directly benefits the American Chemistry Council — the former employer of two of the officials who made the decision. Government records obtained through FOIA requests show that those same officials spent months taking meetings with chemical industry representatives, and kept not a single meeting with a public health organization. Not one.   I am asking you to call for a formal congressional investigation into whether these EPA appointments violate federal ethics and conflict-of-interest law, and to demand that the Office of Government Ethics conduct a full audit of every political appointee currently serving at the agency. Not a statement. Not a tweet. A real investigation.   Clean air and clean water are not political issues. Protecting people from toxic chemicals is not a partisan cause. But allowing the regulated to become the regulators is a betrayal of the public trust — and right now, it is happening in plain sight.   I will be following up on this letter, and I will be sharing your response with my community. I hope to hear from you soon.