US Endangered Species Act rollbacks 2025–2026 (God Squad Gulf exemption, critical habitat rules)
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
- Government and regulators US federal rules (14 and 21 July 2026): Removed the definition of harm, so habitat modification alone is no longer a prohibited act; restored the 2019 rules on automatic protection and critical-habitat exclusion.
- Researchers Legal summaries as recorded: Section 7 consultation and critical-habitat obligations continue and killing or injuring a listed animal remains prohibited, although the reach of the change is broad.
- Communities and civil society Earthjustice: Stated an intention to sue over the rules published on 21 July 2026.
- Government and regulators Endangered Species Committee: Voted unanimously to exempt Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from consultation requirements on national-security grounds. Beveridge & Diamond
- Communities and civil society Environmental groups: Sued over the decision to strip protections from imperiled Gulf species. Florida Phoenix
Between 2025 and 2026 US authorities exempted Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activity from Endangered Species Act consultation, removed the regulatory definition of “harm”, and ended automatic protection for newly threatened species. Lawsuits were filed over the exemption.
Endangered Species Committee vote, 31 March 2026; first exemption on national-security grounds.
Status As of July 2026: Gulf exemption in force with lawsuits filed and no ruling found; rules removing the definition of harm and ending automatic protection for newly threatened species published, with a stated intention to sue.
- Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operators — Exempted from the ESA's consultation requirements by the Endangered Species Committee on 31 March 2026. Beveridge & Diamond
What happened
On 7 April 2025, after Colossal Biosciences announced a “dire wolf”, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum likened the Endangered Species Act (ESA) list to “Hotel California”, saying that species added to it do not leave. He wrote that 97% of species added to the list had stayed on it, and said the only thing he wanted to see go extinct was the need for the list.
The ESA prohibits “taking” a protected animal, which covers killing, injuring and “harming” it. The regulation had defined harm to include significant habitat modification that actually kills or injures an animal, and the Supreme Court upheld that definition in 1995 in the Sweet Home case. A rule published on 14 July 2026 and effective on 14 September removed the definition; habitat modification alone is no longer a prohibited act. Section 7 consultation and critical-habitat obligations remain in force, and killing or injuring a listed animal remains prohibited. On 21 July 2026 two rules were published that ended automatic protection for species newly listed as threatened and required critical habitat to be excluded where the benefit of exclusion outweighs the benefit of designation and the species will not go extinct. Both rules restore 2019 regulations. Earthjustice stated an intention to sue.
The Endangered Species Committee, known as the “God Squad”, is a cabinet-level panel that can grant exemptions from the Act. It met on 31 March 2026 at the request of Defense Secretary Hegseth and unanimously exempted Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from the Act's consultation requirements on national-security grounds. It had met three times before and had never previously granted an exemption on national-security grounds. Environmental groups sued over the decision by 2 April 2026.
In Congress, the ESA Amendments Act (House bill H.R. 1897) passed committee 25 to 16; it would close delisting decisions to judicial review for five years and widen economic and security exemptions. A House floor vote scheduled for 22 April 2026 was cancelled. H.R. 845, which would remove the gray wolf from the list and bar judicial review of the decision, passed the House 211 to 204 on 18 December 2025.
On 30 March 2026 a federal court found four of the first Trump administration's ESA rules unlawful, according to a Beveridge & Diamond summary of 30 July 2026.
- 20257 April: Interior Secretary Burgum likens the ESA list to “Hotel California”; 18 December: House passes H.R. 845 (gray wolf delisting, no judicial review), 211–204
- 202630 March: federal court finds four first-term ESA rules unlawful; 31 March: Endangered Species Committee unanimously exempts Gulf oil and gas from ESA consultation; 2 April: lawsuits reported; 22 April: House floor vote on H.R. 1897 cancelled; 14 July: rule removing the definition of “harm” published (effective 14 September); 21 July: two rules published ending automatic protection for newly threatened species and requiring certain critical-habitat exclusions (effective 20 August)
What was said
“Hotel California”
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Removed the definition of harm, so habitat modification alone is no longer a prohibited act; restored the 2019 rules on automatic protection and critical-habitat exclusion.
Section 7 consultation and critical-habitat obligations continue and killing or injuring a listed animal remains prohibited, although the reach of the change is broad.
Stated an intention to sue over the rules published on 21 July 2026.
Voted unanimously to exempt Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from consultation requirements on national-security grounds.
Beveridge & DiamondSued over the decision to strip protections from imperiled Gulf species.
Florida PhoenixHow it looked
Shown
- 97% of species added to the ESA list have stayed on it.Doug Burgum, Interior Secretary
Recorded
- The Endangered Species Committee, convened at the request of Defense Secretary Hegseth, unanimously exempted Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities from the ESA's consultation obligations on 31 March 2026; it had met three times before and this was its first exemption on national-security grounds.
- Environmental groups sued over the decision to strip protections from imperiled Gulf species (reported 2 April 2026).
- The regulatory definition of “harm”, which included significant habitat modification that kills or injures animals, was removed by a rule published on 14 July 2026 and effective on 14 September 2026.
- Two rules published on 21 July 2026 ended automatic protection for species newly listed as threatened and made exclusion of an area from critical habitat required when the benefit of excluding it is greater and the species will not go extinct; both restore 2019 regulations.
- A Federal Register notice, 91 FR 43300 of 14 July 2026, is cited for final ESA rules.
- H.R. 1897 passed committee 25–16; its floor vote on 22 April 2026 was cancelled. H.R. 845 passed the House 211–204 on 18 December 2025.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- us-interior (7 April 2025): Secretary Doug Burgum likened the ESA list to “Hotel California”, wrote that 97% of species added had stayed listed, and said the only thing he wanted to see go extinct was the need for the list.
- esa-committee (31 March 2026): Voted unanimously to exempt Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations from ESA consultation requirements on national-security grounds. · Beveridge & Diamond
- earthjustice (July 2026): Stated an intention to sue over the rules published on 21 July 2026.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2026-04–OngoingChallenge to the God Squad exemption for Gulf of Mexico oil and gasUS federal court (not named in the sources reviewed) · Administrative · Environmental groups → Endangered Species Committee (federal government)
Environmental groups sued over the 31 March 2026 exemption; the suits are listed among ongoing cases. Florida Phoenix
- 2026-03-30Outcome not on recordFederal court ruling on four first-term ESA rulesUS federal court (not named in the sources reviewed) · Administrative · →
A federal court found four of the first Trump administration's ESA rules unlawful, according to a Beveridge & Diamond summary of 30 July 2026; the parties and the court are not named in the sources reviewed.
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
- Disputed Do the 2026 rules remove protection of habitat?
- Disputed Was the Gulf exemption justified?
Court
- Unclear Federal court ruling on four first-term ESA rules: outcome not on record.
Figures
- Insufficient Population: Rice's whale;, not independently verified.
- Insufficient Species covered: Reported in secondary summaries as covered by the exemption; not independently verified.
Record
- None on record No court ruling on the lawsuits against the Gulf exemption was found.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the exemption covers Rice's whale, put at about 51 individuals, and five sea turtle species. These details come.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: NRDC and others filed suit, and a separate Rice's whale case was dropped because of the exemption. These details come.
- Disputed Reported but not independently verified: critics counting species that did not go extinct put the share at more than 99%. Burgum's 97% measures species leaving the list and the critics' figure measures species not going extinct, so the two measure different things.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Burgum's remark that staff should “pick your favourite species and call Colossal”; no primary source was found.
- None on record The Federal Register notice 91 FR 43300 (14 July 2026) is cited in connection with the rule on automatic protection and critical-habitat exclusion, effective 20 August 2026; those rules are also given a 21 July 2026 publication date, so the citation and the dates do not line up.
- Unclear Whether lawsuits against the 14 July and 21 July 2026 rules have been filed is not recorded; Earthjustice stated an intention to sue.
Did the harm stop?
Not stopped in the sources reviewed: the exemption was granted on 31 March 2026 and the rule removing the definition of harm takes effect on 14 September 2026.
Who paid?
Not established. The sources reviewed do not quantify costs to any party.
Sources
Company or project
- Endangered Species Act God Squad exempts offshore oil and gas operations from ESA consultation requirementsBeveridge & Diamond · 2026-04-03
Government and regulators
- Federal Register, 91 FR 43300 (14 July 2026)Federal Register / GovInfo · 2026-07-14
Press and investigations
- Environmental groups sue over decision to strip protections from imperiled Gulf speciesFlorida Phoenix · 2026-04-02
Connected cases
- Bears Ears national monument shrinkage (USA) United States · 2016–2026
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- Colossal Biosciences: de-extinction ventures, funding and the Burgum remark United States · 2022–2026
- US Department of the Interior (Government) — here: Department led by Secretary Burgum; there: Interior Department; Secretary Doug Burgum commented on the endangered species list
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- Nexia Biotechnologies: BioSteel spider-silk goats and Protexia Canada · 1993–2013
- US Department of Defense (Government) — here: Department whose Secretary requested the committee meeting; there: Customer under the Protexia contract
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- US coal ash ponds, groundwater contamination and EPA delay United States · 2015–2026
- Earthjustice (NGO) — here: NGO that stated an intention to sue; there: Environmental law group
- US Congress lifts 2023 mining ban on Minnesota's Boundary Waters United States · 2023–2026
- Earthjustice (NGO) — here: NGO that stated an intention to sue; there: advocacy group reporting the removal
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