Rebecca Hays Barho Comments on Trump ‘God Squad’ Oil Exemption

Rebecca Hays Barho was featured in the Bloomberg Government article, “Trump ‘God Squad’ Oil Exemption Wades Into Murky Legal Territory” (subscription required).

The article examines the Trump administration’s decision to convene the Endangered Species Committee (colloquially known as the “God Squad”) for the first time in more than three decades for the purpose of granting an exemption for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of America (formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico) from the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The exemption was requested by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on asserted national security grounds, with a focus on how protracted litigation under the ESA threatened development and production of oil and gas in the Gulf. The action has already drawn legal challenge and raised threshold questions about whether, where and how the decision could be judicially reviewed.

Commenting on the potential litigation posture and statutory novelty, Rebecca noted that if a challenge to the committee’s decision proceeds, it would be “breaking entirely new legal ground because no ESA exemption has ever been granted for national security reasons,” adding that uncertainty is compounded “because the text of ESA section 7(j) is so sparse.”