Climate and Environmental Policy Changes

Updated2026-11-09 Covers2025-01-20 to 2026-11-09

Summary

On Jan 20, 2025 the administration withdrew from the Paris Agreement,⁷⁴ the worldwide climate agreement. It also declared a “national energy emergency,” and the Energy Department cited it to keep retiring coal plants open.¹,²,³ It repealed the 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health.⁷⁶ It ordered offshore wind farms to stop work. It cut two Utah national monuments from 3.2 million acres to under 303,000, and it narrowed protections for endangered species.⁴,⁵,⁶ It ended billions of dollars in clean-energy grants that Congress had funded. The Energy Department told a court that 284 of them were picked “based solely on the political identity” of the recipients’ states. It also cut weather and disaster staff.⁷,⁸,⁹,¹⁰ Courts have blocked several of these steps. They include the wind stop-work orders, the Day-1 wind memorandum and the coal “emergency” orders. They also include the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) plan to cut its workforce in half. And they include FEMA’s cancellation of mitigation grants, which pay to reduce damage from future disasters.³⁷,¹¹³,¹²,¹²⁵,¹³ In 2026 the emergency was extended. It was used for six decisions under the Defense Production Act, a law that lets the President boost production for national defense. Gulf oil and gas received an exemption from the Endangered Species Act. Wind-turbine imports were declared a security threat.¹⁰⁵,¹⁰⁷,¹¹⁸,¹²⁸ The Paris exit and the greenhouse-gas and power-plant repeals remain in force. “Green-bank” grants, which fund clean-energy lending, remain frozen while the Supreme Court reviews the case.¹⁴,¹⁵,¹⁶

Background

Federal climate rules rest on two things. One is the Clean Air Act,⁷⁵ the main federal law against air pollution. The other is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2009 Endangerment Finding. That finding is the legal basis for limits on pollution from vehicles, power plants and oil and gas.⁴ Other laws are also at stake. The Impoundment Control Act (ICA)⁷⁷ bars the President from holding back money Congress has approved without asking Congress first. The Endangered Species Act (ESA)⁷⁸ protects plants and animals at risk of dying out. Another is the Antiquities Act of 1906,⁷⁹ which lets presidents create monuments. The last is the Federal Power Act, which covers the electric grid, including emergency orders.⁸⁰,⁶ The Biden administration had obligated tens of billions of dollars in climate grants. “Obligated” means the money was legally promised to recipients.¹⁷,⁷

Three officials led the agencies. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had leased family land to oil companies when he was North Dakota governor, according to AP records. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Energy Secretary Chris Wright led the others.¹⁸ On Jan 20, 2025 Trump also cancelled an ethics order. A Campaign Legal Center analysis said that order would have restricted at least eight nominees. They included three EPA picks who had lobbied for fossil-fuel groups.¹⁹

What happened

Energy emergency and fossil-fuel expansion

On Jan 20, 2025 Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, declared an energy emergency and froze new wind power on federal lands.¹,² Burgum was confirmed Jan 30. On his first day, he signed six orders expanding drilling access. On Mar 20 Interior moved to reopen the Arctic refuge coastal plain and 13.3 million acres of Alaska’s petroleum reserve.¹⁸,²⁰ On Apr 8 Trump issued coal orders. He also told the Justice Department (DOJ) to challenge state climate laws.²²,²³ On Apr 23 Interior used the emergency to shorten environmental reviews to about 14–28 days. This applied to fossil fuels, uranium and minerals, but not wind or solar.²¹ Starting May 23, 2025, Department of Energy (DOE) emergency orders kept five retiring coal plants open. A Feb 11, 2026 order told the military to buy coal power.³,⁴⁹,¹⁴⁴ Keeping Michigan’s Campbell plant open cost about $259 million. Most of that was passed on to electricity customers. On Sept 11, 2026 the D.C. Circuit appeals court ruled against DOE’s coal orders (see Why it matters).¹²,¹⁵⁴ On Jan 12, 2026, Trump extended the energy emergency for one year.¹⁷⁵ On Apr 20 and Oct 22 he made six Defense Production Act (DPA) decisions under it. They covered grid equipment, energy infrastructure, gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal and around-the-clock (baseload) power, and oil. Each one set aside the Act’s usual conditions for federal support “for the purposes of expanding production capability.”¹⁰⁵,¹⁰⁷,¹⁷¹

Endangerment Finding and EPA rules

At EPA, Zeldin said on Mar 12, 2025 that the agency would reconsider the Endangerment Finding.²⁴ From Mar 24 facilities could ask by email for presidential exemptions from rules on toxic air pollution.²⁶ An Apr 8 proclamation exempted 68 coal plants from the 2024 mercury standards for two years. A proclamation is a formal public announcement by the President. Later proclamations exempted taconite iron ore processors and certain chemical makers (Jul 17) and a copper smelter (Oct 24). On Feb 20, 2026 EPA finalized a rule returning coal plants to the 2012 limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution.¹⁴⁰,¹⁴¹,¹⁴²,¹⁴³ EPA proposed ending greenhouse-gas reporting (Sept 11). It delayed drinking-water limits on “forever chemical” pollutants (May 14). It also abolished its research office and cut staff about 23% (Jul 18).²⁷,¹⁴⁵,²⁸,²⁹ On May 18, 2026 Zeldin said EPA would “rescind and restart” the drinking-water rules for four PFAS (“forever”) chemicals. The limits for two others, PFOA and PFOS, stay. Water systems may ask for two extra years.¹⁵³ On Jun 30, 2025, about 170 named staff published a “Declaration of Dissent.” EPA then put 139 signers on administrative leave (Jul 3) and fired at least eight (Aug 29).³⁰,¹⁵⁶,¹⁵⁷ On Jun 12, 2025 Trump signed resolutions under the Congressional Review Act, a law that lets Congress cancel recent agency rules. The resolutions rejected EPA’s waivers that let California set its own vehicle-emission standards. California’s attorney general said two offices had concluded the act does not apply to such waivers. They were the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’s auditing arm, and the Senate parliamentarian, the Senate’s rules expert. California and ten states sued the same day.¹¹¹,¹¹²

EPA’s Jul 29, 2025 repeal proposal relied on a report by five scientists. Wright had brought them together without public notice. The groups that sued called them “known climate contrarians”. EPA cited the report 22 times.³¹ Wright broke up the group as a lawsuit under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)⁸⁵ moved forward. That law sets open-meeting and other rules for outside groups that advise agencies.¹⁸¹,³² On Jan 30, 2026 Judge William Young (D. Mass.) ruled DOE broke FACA in creating the group. But he declined to strike the report, and DOE did not withdraw it.³³,³² On Feb 12, 2026 Trump finalized the repeal and the vehicle standards. He called the finding “a giant scam.”⁴ Seventeen health and environmental groups, led by the American Public Health Association, asked the D.C. Circuit to review the repeal on Feb 18, 2026. On Mar 19, 24 states joined by cities, counties and D.C. did the same. On Oct 5, 2026 the court refused a pause (a stay) that youth petitioners had asked for.¹⁶⁹,¹⁷⁰,¹⁴ EPA finalized repeal of most of the 2024 power-plant carbon standards on Sept 14, 2026, according to regulatory trackers. It has also proposed a rule that would bar such standards.¹⁵

Grants and funding

On Jan 20, 2025 Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” told all agencies to stop paying out certain money. An executive order is a written order from the President to the agencies he runs. The pause covered money Congress approved under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The next day, a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the National Economic Council told agencies to carry out the pause.⁶⁹,⁸¹,⁸² On Apr 14 the Agriculture Department (USDA) cancelled the Biden-era Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. It cited “sky-high administration fees,” and said existing agreements would be checked against new conditions.¹¹⁰ On Apr 15, 2025 Judge Mary McElroy (D.R.I.) blocked the pause nationwide in Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council v. USDA. She wrote, “The Court cannot see how they can claim that power”. On Nov 4, 2025, the court granted a request to enforce its order.¹⁷⁴ In 2026 the First Circuit appeals court upheld broad relief against the blanket freeze under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the law that sets the rules agencies must follow. But it narrowed the orders that required payment.⁶⁹,⁸³,⁸⁴,¹⁰⁹

Beginning Feb 12, 2025 Zeldin publicly attacked the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. He accused Biden-era officials of “kickbacks,” “theft” and “graft” but made no specific claims against any grantee. On Mar 11 EPA sent notices ending the grants.¹⁷,¹³³ On Mar 18 Judge Tanya Chutkan temporarily blocked the end of $14 billion in grants. A DOJ lawyer admitted the government had gathered no new evidence of fraud. On Apr 15 Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction, a court order that stops something until the case is decided. She noted the government’s reason had shifted to “a change in administration policy.”¹⁷,¹³⁴,¹³⁵ On Sept 2, 2025 a divided appeals court panel (2–1) held the dispute was about contracts. It said the case belonged in the Court of Federal Claims, which freed EPA to cancel the grants.²⁵,¹³⁶ The full D.C. Circuit agreed to rehear the case on Dec 17, 2025, which cancelled the panel’s ruling. On Aug 4, 2026 it ruled 6–4 for the grantees and upheld Chutkan’s injunction.¹⁶,¹³⁷,¹³⁸ Days later it paused the part of its ruling that required payment, so EPA could ask the Supreme Court to review it. The money stayed frozen. On Oct 9 the court made clear that the pause does not cover funds the Coalition for Green Capital withdrew before it.¹⁶,¹³⁹ On Nov 2 the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to hear the case (Zeldin v. Climate United Fund, No. 26-589). Citibank, which holds the money, filed its own request the same day.¹⁸⁹ On Aug 7, 2025 EPA cancelled the $7 billion Solar for All program for 900,000 low-income households. More than 20 states sued on Oct 16. They said the money had already been obligated under signed grant agreements.⁷,¹⁶⁰ On Jun 1, 2026 Judge Cartwright (W.D. Wash.) dismissed the states’ suit. He ruled it belonged in the Court of Federal Claims, where the states have a separate contract suit.¹⁸⁷ On Sept 18, 2026 Judge Mary McElroy (D.R.I.) ruled in a second suit, brought by unions, advocacy groups, solar businesses and a homeowner. She held that ending the program was unlawful and cancelled the termination.¹⁸⁸

During the shutdown that began Oct 1, 2025, DOE cancelled about $8 billion in projects in states Kamala Harris won.⁴⁸ On Jan 22, 2026 DOE said it had cancelled almost $30 billion in Biden-era loans and conditional commitments. It had restructured or revised about $53 billion more. It moved about $9.5 billion from wind and solar to natural gas and nuclear. It named no projects.¹¹⁷ On Feb 18, 2026, 13 states led by California, Colorado and Washington sued Wright and OMB in California v. Wright (N.D. Cal.). The suit is over cancelled energy awards from the infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act. The states claim violations of the APA and of the separation of powers, the Constitution’s division of power among the branches. They say DOE cited its May 2025 policy memo when it announced the October cuts. On June 2, 2026 the court refused DOE and OMB’s request to dismiss the case or move it to another court.¹³⁰,¹⁷⁶,¹⁷⁷ On Jun 4, 2026 GAO answered a request from two members of Congress who write spending bills, Marcy Kaptur and Patty Murray. GAO concluded that DOE “is required to obligate and expend” clean-energy funds at set amounts (B-337838). Those amounts were in the explanatory statement for the FY2024 Energy-Water spending law. The FY2025 continuing resolution, a stopgap spending bill, carried them forward.⁷¹ The two lawmakers said DOE’s spending plan cut wind from $137 million to $29.8 million and solar from $318 million to $41.9 million.⁷¹ GAO found that DOE’s budget request misstated the enacted amounts in six accounts. It also found that spending data suggested DOE went over the limits in five. GAO made no final finding of a violation, because DOE did not identify where its money came from. But it said DOE should report any violation of the Antideficiency Act, a law that bars spending more than Congress approved. DOE and OMB did not give their views.⁷¹,⁸⁶ On Jun 11, 2026 Judge Gergel (D.S.C.) cancelled EPA’s ending of the Environmental and Climate Justice Program. He called the termination “arbitrary and capricious and unlawful,” a legal phrase meaning not reasonably explained and against the law. On Jul 22 he ordered EPA to keep running the program through Sept 30, 2026 (Sustainability Institute v. Trump).¹²⁰,¹⁸⁴ On Jul 15, 2026 DOE stated in a court filing that the 284 terminated grants were selected “based solely on the political identity” of the recipients’ states. Wright had told Congress on June 10 that the cancellations were not political.⁸,⁶⁵

Offshore wind

Interior halted Empire Wind, a federally approved project off New York, on Apr 16, 2025. It lifted the order May 19. Burgum publicly credited Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity.”³⁴,¹⁸⁰ From Jul 17 every wind and solar decision on federal land needed the secretary’s approval.³⁶ On Aug 22 Interior stopped Revolution Wind, which the Oceantic Network said was 80% complete. It cited “national security interests”. On Sept 22 Judge Royce Lamberth blocked that order.³⁵,¹⁸² On Dec 8 Judge Patti Saris (D. Mass.) ruled in a suit by 17 states led by New York. She cancelled Trump’s Day-1 memorandum, a written instruction that had closed offshore areas to wind leasing and halted new wind approvals.¹¹³ On Dec 22 Interior suspended all five offshore farms under construction, citing secret (classified) radar concerns. Two Pentagon reviews of Revolution Wind had found no harmful effect. Lamberth again let it resume Jan 12, 2026.⁵,³⁷ Interior then agreed to pay TotalEnergies $928 million (Mar 23, 2026) to give up leases. The company pledged to put the money into gas and drilling.³⁸ Seven states sued Jun 2, 2026.³⁹ More buybacks followed. By September Interior had agreed to pay about $3.9 billion for 12 leases. Eight states are suing.⁴⁰ Judges let all five suspended farms resume. Vineyard Wind 1 reached full commercial operation Oct 29, 2026. Revolution Wind reached full power by Nov 5.³⁷,¹¹,¹⁸³ On Oct 22, 2026 Trump issued a proclamation under Section 232 of a trade law. That section lets the President adjust imports that threaten national security. He declared that wind-turbine imports are such a threat. He adopted the Commerce Secretary’s conclusion that wind energy is unreliable and “burdensome” on the grid. He told Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate import adjustments. The sources state no tariff rate. A tariff is a tax on goods coming into the country.¹²⁸,¹²⁹

Weather and disaster agencies

Layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began Feb 27, 2025. After Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick required his personal approval for contracts over $100,000, some contracts ran out. They included the one for translating weather alerts (from Apr 1).⁹,⁴¹ FEMA cancelled its $4.6 billion disaster-mitigation program (Apr 4). Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem required her approval of every contract over $100,000 (June).⁴²,⁴³ The Jul 4, 2025 Texas Hill Country floods killed more than 130 people.¹⁰,⁴⁴ The local National Weather Service (NWS) office had 6 of 27 posts empty. Noem did not approve sending FEMA’s search-and-rescue teams until Jul 7, more than 72 hours after the flooding began. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said other parts of the department filled in.¹⁰,⁴⁴,¹⁵⁸ Trump said “Nobody saw it,” and Lutnick said NWS was “fully staffed with forecasters and scientists.”¹⁰ It is disputed whether the empty posts made the death toll worse. Forecasters did issue warnings. Rep. Lloyd Doggett asked NOAA for the local office’s logs in July letters. On Aug 27 he wrote to Lutnick, accusing Commerce of holding back answers NOAA had prepared. He said as of Aug 31 that he had received no written response.¹⁰,⁴⁵,¹⁵⁹ On Aug 25, 191 current and former FEMA employees sent Congress the “Katrina Declaration.” On Aug 26 FEMA put more than 20 named signers on administrative leave with no end date. Emails told them the leave “is not a disciplinary action and is not intended to be punitive”. Some were later brought back. On Dec 1 DHS put 14 of those signers back on leave, hours after CNN reported they had returned.⁴⁶,¹⁶¹,¹⁶² In Washington v. FEMA, Judge Richard Stearns (D. Mass.) permanently blocked the end of the mitigation program on Dec 11, 2025. On Mar 6, 2026 he found that parts of his ruling had not been carried out.¹²⁵,¹⁵¹,¹⁵² On Jan 23, 2026 Executive Order 14377 told FEMA and the Small Business Administration to consider overriding California and Los Angeles permit rules. This would apply to federally funded rebuilding after the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton Canyon fires. Builders would certify their own work to a federal official instead of getting local permits. The order blames the California state and Los Angeles city and county governments for the fires. It names one official, Mayor Karen Bass.⁷⁰ In July 2026 an AP analysis found Trump approved about 80% of disaster requests from Republican governors and 60% from Democrats. On Jul 3 he rejected blizzard requests from four Democratic-led states, seeking $227 million. FEMA and NOAA had certified that those requests met federal standards. Two days earlier, he had approved requests from six Republican-led states.⁴⁷,¹⁷²,¹⁷³

Public lands, monuments and endangered species

Trump opened five ocean monuments to commercial fishing. The first was the Pacific Remote Islands (Apr 17, 2025). Next came the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts off New England (Feb 6, 2026). Then came parts of Papahānaumokuākea, the Mariana Trench monument and Rose Atoll (Jun 11, 2026).⁵⁰,¹⁴⁹,¹⁵⁰ He withdrew from a salmon agreement with Northwest tribes (Jun 12, 2025).⁵¹ On Oct 6, 2025 the government bought 10% of Trilogy Metals. That same day, it approved the company’s mining road. It now owns that stake while also regulating the road project (see Government Equity Stakes and Chip Export Deals and Cabinet Financial Disclosures and Ethics Complaints).⁵²,⁵⁹ On Oct 21 Burgum signed a land swap giving King Cove Corp. 490 acres inside Izembek National Wildlife Refuge for a road. Alaska Native villages and conservation groups filed three suits on Nov 12. On Aug 18, 2026 the federal court in Alaska cancelled the swap. It held that Interior had skipped required steps. One was the process for transportation routes in Title XI of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). Others were steps required by the ESA and the Refuge Improvement Act. Interior, Alaska and King Cove Corp. appealed (Sept 29–Oct 1).¹¹⁵,¹⁶⁵,¹⁶⁶,¹⁶⁷,¹⁶⁸,¹¹⁶ On Mar 31, 2026 the Endangered Species Committee, led by Burgum, voted unanimously on Gulf oil and gas. It exempted all such activity under Interior’s offshore program from two ESA duties. One is consulting on harm to species. The other is the ban on killing or harming protected animals (called “take”). The vote rested on the War Secretary’s finding that this was “necessary for reasons of national security”. Interior said operations “should not be jeopardized by the threat of disruptive litigation.”¹¹⁸,¹¹⁹ A Jul 10, 2026 ESA rule removed habitat destruction from the definition of “harm.” Environmental groups sued over it in Seattle on Jul 14. On Jul 17 Interior repealed automatic protections for threatened species.⁵⁴,¹⁴⁶,¹⁴⁷,⁵⁵ On Jul 13, 2026 Trump cut Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante from 3.2 million acres to under 303,000. On Oct 13 Judge Chutkan revived the 2017 suits. She required 48 hours’ notice before any digging or other ground disturbance.⁶,⁵³,¹⁷⁹

Climate data, shipping emissions and statutory waivers

Some environmental data were ended or cut back. FEMA took down its Future Risk Index map (February 2025). The State Department shut off the air-quality monitors at U.S. embassies, citing funding. About 17 years of readings came off EPA’s AirNow site (March 2025). EPA’s AirToxScreen update left out the cancer-risk estimates it had published since 2002 (June–August 2026). NOAA ended its support for the yearly Arctic Report Card (Aug 10, 2026).¹²¹,¹²²,¹²³,¹²⁴ On Sept 10, 2026 the White House proposed changing the published National Climate Assessment. The change would call high-emissions scenarios “not policy relevant.”⁵⁶ On Oct 10, 2025 the Energy, Transportation and State departments said the U.S. would reject the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Net-Zero Framework for shipping emissions. They threatened countries that backed it with port bans, visa limits and sanctions on officials. Sanctions are penalties that freeze a person’s assets and bar dealings with them.¹¹⁴ On Oct 17 IMO member states voted 57–49 to put off adoption for one year. On May 1, 2026 the State Department said it had prevented approval at the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee.¹⁶³,¹⁶⁴

On Jun 26, 2026 Presidential Determination 2026-16 exempted the Air Force’s renovation of the Joint Base Andrews golf courses from water-pollution rules. The golf courses sit partly on a Superfund site, a polluted place listed for federal cleanup, in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The exemption lasts one year. It covers federal, state and local water-pollution requirements, other than those of 33 U.S.C. §§1316 and 1317, which still apply. It relies on the “paramount interest of the United States” exemption in §313 of the Clean Water Act.⁷²,⁸⁷ In late October Maryland’s environment secretary wrote of “serious concerns” about polluted runoff. The Air Force told the state it will not seek wetlands permits.⁷² In 2026 Homeland Security Secretaries Noem and then Mullin issued three waivers under §102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). That section lets the Homeland Security Secretary set aside other laws to build border barriers. The waivers set aside environmental laws, including the ESA, for border walls and roads in the Big Bend Sector. The government said these would span more than 300 miles, with roughly 17 miles of vehicle barriers. CBS News reported that the wall would not cut through Big Bend National Park, but other structures would. Work began Aug 6.⁷³,⁸⁸ On Oct 2 Judge Kathleen Cardone (W.D. Tex.) blocked all barrier building in the sector. She explained her reasons in a written opinion on Oct 14. She relied on the major-questions doctrine, which she held is a “constitutional … rule.” Under it, “courts should expect Congress to speak clearly when it delegates major lawmaking authority to the executive,” she wrote. She found the Secretary lacked “clear congressional authorization” because Big Bend is not an area of “high illegal entry.”⁷³ On Oct 21 the Solicitor General, the government’s lawyer before the Supreme Court, asked the Court to pause the ruling. The request also asked the Court to treat it as a petition to hear the case and to reverse the ruling right away, without full argument (Mullin v. Friends of the Ruidosa Church, No. 26A560). As of Nov 7 there was no ruling.¹⁸⁵,⁸⁹ On Nov 9 the Supreme Court paused Cardone’s order, with Justice Jackson voting no. It held that the government is “exceedingly likely” to show the district court had no power to hear the case. The law lets district courts hear only claims “alleging a violation of the Constitution,” and the Court wrote: “There is no such thing as a ‘constitutional’ major-questions claim.” The pause lasts until the Court acts on a timely request to hear the case.¹⁸⁶

Key dates

• 2025-01-20 — Paris Agreement withdrawal — → ledger
• 2025-01-20 — National energy emergency, wind moratorium — → ledger
• 2025-01-20 — EO 14154 pauses IRA and IIJA disbursements; enjoined Apr 15 — → ledger
• 2025-02 (mid) — Zeldin’s fraud accusations open the green-bank fight — → ledger
• 2025-05-23 — First DOE 202(c) coal-plant order — → ledger
• 2025-07-04 — Texas Hill Country floods — → ledger
• 2025-07-29 — Endangerment repeal proposed — → ledger
• 2025-08-07 — Solar for All cancelled — → ledger
• 2025-08-22 — Interior halts Revolution Wind — → ledger
• 2025-09-22 — Lamberth enjoins Revolution Wind stop-work order — → ledger
• 2025-12-08 — Saris vacates Day-1 wind memorandum — → ledger
• 2025-12-22 — All five offshore wind farms suspended — → ledger
• 2026-02-12 — Endangerment Finding repeal finalized — → ledger
• 2026-03-31 to 04-03 — Endangered Species Committee exempts Gulf oil and gas — → ledger
• 2026-06-04 — GAO B-337838 on DOE clean-energy spending — → ledger
• 2026-07-13 — Utah monument cuts — → ledger
• 2026-07-15 — DOE admits political grant cuts — → ledger
• 2026-07-17 — Blanket 4(d) rule repealed — → ledger
• 2026-08-04 — Full D.C. Circuit rules 6–4 for green-bank grantees — → ledger
• 2026-09-11 — D.C. Circuit holds DOE exceeded 202(c) authority — → ledger
• 2026-09-12 — Illston rules FEMA workforce cut unlawful — → ledger
• 2026-09-13 — EPA moves to end power-plant carbon limits — → ledger
• 2026-09-18 — McElroy cancels the Solar for All termination — → ledger
• 2026-10-22 to 28 — Section 232 proclamation on wind-turbine imports — → ledger
• 2026-11-09 — Supreme Court pauses the Big Bend border-wall order — → ledger

Why it matters

Appropriated funds (ICA, 2 U.S.C. §§681–688; Inflation Reduction Act). The legal question is whether the executive branch may end funding that Congress approved and agencies had already committed. This covers the green-bank fund, Solar for All, disaster mitigation, electric-vehicle (EV) chargers and Community Change Grants.¹⁷,⁷,⁴²,⁵⁷,⁵⁸ For the green-bank terminations, EPA first gave fraud as its reason, and later “a change in administration policy”. For Solar for All, Zeldin said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,⁹⁰ a budget law, repealed the fund and so removed EPA’s power. The states argue that law cancelled only money not yet obligated.¹⁷,⁷,⁶³,¹⁶⁰ A D.C. Circuit panel held the green-bank dispute belonged in the Court of Federal Claims. Then the full court (Aug 4, 2026) held 6–4 that EPA “likely contravened the IRA’s mandatory appropriation.” That means EPA likely went against money the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) required it to spend.²⁵,¹⁶,¹³⁶,¹³⁸ Judge Tana Lin ordered the Transportation Department (DOT) on Jun 24, 2025 to release the EV-charger money to 14 of the 17 states that sued. She found DOT could rewrite program guidance without holding back money set by formula. DOT issued new guidance restarting the program on Aug 15, 2025.⁵⁷,¹³¹,¹³² GAO found on Oct 7, 2026 that EPA’s withholding and termination of Community Change Grants broke the ICA (see Shutdowns, Rescissions and Impoundment Findings).⁵⁸ Judge Stearns held that FEMA could not end the disaster-mitigation program without Congress’s approval. Judge Gergel relied on the APA and on the law that requires the Environmental and Climate Justice Program. He ordered EPA to keep running it.¹²⁵,¹²⁰,¹⁸⁴ Earlier, Judge McElroy blocked EO 14154’s blanket pause on IRA and infrastructure-law payments (Apr 15, 2025). In 2026 the First Circuit upheld broad APA relief against it, while narrowing the orders that required payment.⁶⁹ In B-337838 (Jun 4, 2026) GAO concluded that DOE had to follow the clean-energy amounts Congress included by reference. It said DOE should report any violation of the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. §1341). DOE and OMB did not give GAO their views.⁷¹,⁸⁶

Emergency authorities (Federal Power Act §202(c);⁸⁰ Clean Air Act §112(i)(4);⁹² NEPA⁹³ and NHPA §106⁹⁴; National Emergencies Act; Defense Production Act). The administration cited the Jan 2025 energy emergency for three things. It used it to shorten environmental reviews, keep coal plants open and tell the military to buy coal power.²¹,³,⁴⁹,¹⁴⁴ The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires agencies to study the environmental effects of major federal projects. The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires them to consider effects on historic places. On Sept 11, 2026 a unanimous D.C. Circuit panel held DOE went beyond its §202(c) power. That part of the Federal Power Act lets DOE order power plants to run in an emergency. The court described that power as “a narrow, last-resort backstop”. DOE asked the court to rehear the case on Oct 26, 2026.¹²,¹⁵⁴,¹⁵⁵ Section 112(i)(4) exemptions let the President excuse a plant from toxic-air rules. He must find that the needed pollution-control technology is not available and that the exemption serves national security. The 68 coal-plant exemptions were granted after the government asked for requests by email.²⁶,¹⁴⁰ No court ruling on those exemptions or the shortened reviews is recorded. The emergency was continued under the National Emergencies Act. That law ends an emergency on its anniversary unless the President publishes a notice continuing it (50 U.S.C. §1622(d)).¹⁰⁵,¹⁷⁵,¹⁰⁶ The six DPA decisions rely on §303(a)(7) (50 U.S.C. §4533(a)(7)). That section lets the Act’s usual conditions be set aside during a declared national emergency. The Sabin Center calls them uses of “war powers,” and no challenge to them is recorded.¹⁰⁷,¹⁷¹,¹⁰⁸

Section 232 (19 U.S.C. §1862). Section 232 lets the President adjust imports that threaten to harm national security. The wind-turbine proclamation raises a question. Does a judgment about wind power as energy policy meet that standard?¹²⁸,¹²⁹

Clean Water Act §313. Section 313 lets the President exempt a federal facility from water-pollution rules for one year. He must decide this is in the “paramount interest of the United States”. Presidential Determination (PD) 2026-16 used it for the Joint Base Andrews golf courses. The record here gives no stated reason beyond the decision itself.⁷²,⁸⁷

IIRIRA §102 and local permitting (EO 14377). IIRIRA §102 lets the Homeland Security Secretary waive legal requirements to build barriers in areas of “high illegal entry”. It also allows court challenges only on constitutional grounds. That is why Judge Cardone framed her ruling as a constitutional one. The Solicitor General argues the court order halts “about 340 miles of planned barrier and road construction indefinitely.”⁷³,⁸⁸,⁸⁹,¹⁸⁵ On Nov 9, 2026 the Supreme Court held that the major-questions claim is about a law, not the Constitution, so the district court likely could not hear it.¹⁸⁶ EO 14377 would replace state and local building permits with federal self-certification for federally funded Los Angeles rebuilding. The record here does not show the administration’s stated legal basis or any court challenge.⁷⁰

Clean Air Act §202(a)⁹¹ and the Endangerment Finding. This part of the Clean Air Act covers pollution from new cars and trucks. According to CNN, EPA’s repeal relies mainly on legal arguments. It also relies on the DOE working group’s report. Judge Young found that report was produced in violation of FACA’s rules on open meetings, records and balanced membership. But he declined to strike it.⁴,³³ The petitions were filed Feb 18 and Mar 19, 2026, and the D.C. Circuit refused a stay on Oct 5, 2026. The written arguments on the main issues are still to come.¹⁶⁹,¹⁷⁰,¹⁴ The California waivers were granted under Clean Air Act §209(b), which lets California set its own vehicle standards with EPA’s approval. The states’ suit argues that the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. §§801–808) does not cover them. It also argues that the resolutions violate federalism, which protects the states’ own powers, and the separation of powers. And it cites the Take Care Clause, the part of the Constitution that tells the President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” No ruling has been located.¹¹¹,¹¹²

Offshore leases (Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act;⁹⁵ APA⁸⁴). Interior gave different reasons for the stop-work orders. For Empire Wind, it said earlier reviews were not enough. For Revolution Wind, it cited “national security interests”. For all five farms, it cited secret radar risks.³⁴,³⁵,⁵ Lamberth found Ørsted likely to win its challenge. Ørsted argued the Revolution Wind order was unlawful and “issued in bad faith,” and Lamberth later rejected the security reason.¹⁸²,³⁷ Judge Saris held the Day-1 wind memorandum was “arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law” under 5 U.S.C. §706(2)(A). She found the agencies gave no reasoned explanation for so drastic a change in policy. She cancelled it “in its entirety”. The White House said wind projects “were given unfair, preferential treatment.”¹¹³,⁸⁴ On the lease buybacks, the states claim violations of two laws. One is the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs offshore leasing. The other is the Judgment Fund Act,⁹⁶ which covers a fund the government uses to pay court judgments and settlements. Interior says the buybacks were “voluntary agreements… reviewed and approved by the Department of Justice.”³⁹,⁴⁰

Antiquities Act and Endangered Species Act. The Antiquities Act lets presidents create monuments. Whether it lets them shrink monuments was argued in court after the 2017 cuts, but never decided. Chutkan revived those suits on Oct 13, 2026.⁶,⁵³ The ESA “harm” rule moves away from the definition the Supreme Court upheld 6–3 in Babbitt v. Sweet Home (1995).⁹⁷ Environmental groups sued on Jul 14, 2026, calling the rule “arbitrary and capricious.”⁵⁴,⁶⁴,¹⁴⁷ The Gulf exemption relies on ESA §7(j). Under it, the committee “shall grant an exemption” if the defense secretary finds it necessary for national security. Only a court of appeals can review it (16 U.S.C. §1536(n)). The question is whether §7(j) lets the committee skip the law’s usual application and harm-reduction (mitigation) requirements. No petition for review is recorded.¹¹⁸,¹¹⁹ In the Izembek case the court applied an ANILCA rule. It says no approval of a road or other transportation system in a protected area has “force or effect” unless the law’s procedures are followed (16 U.S.C. §3164).¹¹⁵,¹¹⁶

Grant terminations by state (First Amendment; equal protection; ICA; 18 U.S.C. §1001; Hatch Act). DOE’s court filing states the 284 terminations were based “solely on the political identity” of the recipients’ states. The record raises three legal questions. One is whether this was viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment,⁹⁸ which bars the government from punishing people for their political views. Another is equal protection,⁹⁹ the rule that the government must treat people equally under the law. The third is the ICA. House Science Democrats referred Wright to DOJ, saying he lied to Congress in his June 10 testimony. False statements to Congress fall under a federal crime law (18 U.S.C. §1001)¹⁰⁰.⁸,⁶⁵ Thirteen states press APA, First and Fifth Amendment and separation-of-powers claims in California v. Wright. The case survived a request to dismiss it, and no ruling on the main issues is recorded.¹³⁰ On Sept 9, 2026 Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel. It claims the cancellations broke the Hatch Act, which bars using official power to affect an election (5 U.S.C. §7323(a)(1)).¹²⁶,¹⁷⁸,¹²⁷

Disaster declarations (Stafford Act). The Stafford Act,¹⁰¹ the main federal disaster-aid law, leaves disaster declarations up to the President. The record here does not show the administration’s stated reasons for the four blizzard denials of Jul 3, 2026.⁴⁷,¹⁷³

Employee speech (First Amendment; whistleblower law). EPA said the dissent signers were “unlawfully undermining” the president’s agenda. The record raises First Amendment and whistleblower claims. The First Amendment claim draws on Pickering v. Board of Education,¹⁰² a case about when public employees’ speech is protected. The Whistleblower Protection Act protects federal workers who report wrongdoing. A misconduct review found the FEMA signers “protected by the whistleblower act”¹⁰³ before DHS suspended them again on Dec 1, 2025.³⁰,¹⁵⁶,⁴⁶,¹⁶²

Outcome

Where things stand

As of Nov 9, 2026, most of the administration’s rule changes are in force. Most of its funding and wind actions are blocked. The Paris withdrawal still stands. So do the endangerment, vehicle and power-plant repeals and the 2026 mercury rollback. So do the ESA rules, the Utah monument cuts, the continued energy emergency, its DPA decisions and the Gulf ESA exemption. No court has ruled on the main issues in any challenge to them.¹,¹⁴,¹⁵,⁶²,¹⁴³,⁵⁴,⁵⁵,⁵³,¹⁰⁵,¹⁰⁷,¹¹⁸ Courts have stopped the offshore wind stop-work orders, the Day-1 wind memorandum and DOE’s coal orders. They have also stopped the FEMA workforce cut, the ending of the mitigation and environmental-justice programs, and the Izembek land swap. A federal judge cancelled the ending of Solar for All.¹⁸⁸ And they have stopped the EV-charger freeze and the EO 14154 pause. The green-bank money stays frozen. On Nov 2 the government asked the Supreme Court to review the case.¹⁸⁹ On Nov 9 the Supreme Court let Big Bend border-barrier work go ahead while the case continues.¹⁸⁶ DOE has asked the D.C. Circuit to rehear the coal-order ruling.³⁷,¹¹³,¹²,¹³,¹²⁵,¹²⁰,¹¹⁵,⁵⁷,⁶⁹,¹⁶,¹⁵⁵ Staffing cuts remain. EPA has about 3,700 fewer positions. Interior’s workforce is down 20%. On Apr 2, 2026, Interior opened another round of deferred resignations, which let workers quit and keep getting paid for a time. NWS is down about 550 staff.²⁹,⁶⁷,¹⁴⁸,¹⁰

Some questions remain open in the record. There are no rulings yet on the main issues in the endangerment repeal or the Utah monument cuts. Completion of Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind is not confirmed. No DOE Antideficiency Act report after GAO’s B-337838 decision is recorded. The record shows no step to carry out EO 14377 and no challenge to it. No petition for review of the Gulf ESA exemption, and no challenge to the DPA decisions, is recorded. The dollar total of the USDA cancellation is not verified. Related: the USDA climate-page removal and dissent-signer firings (Withdrawn Studies and Deleted Federal Data, Federal Workforce Reductions and Schedule F); pardons for people and companies in emissions-tampering cases (Pardons and Clemency).³⁰,⁶⁰,⁶¹

Status

Who is affected

The ended grants, loans and programs affect households, states, local governments, nonprofits and companies that held federal awards. Courts blocked or froze several of the largest.⁷,⁸,¹⁶,¹¹⁷,¹²⁵ Emergency orders that kept retiring coal plants open affect people who pay electric bills.¹² Staffing cuts affect federal employees and the weather and disaster services they run. It is disputed whether empty weather-service jobs made the 2025 Texas flood death toll worse.²⁹,¹³,¹⁰,⁴⁵ Lease suspensions and buybacks affect offshore wind developers. Monument cuts and border waivers change the protection of public land in Utah and Big Bend.⁵,⁴⁰,⁶,⁷³

• Michigan electricity ratepayers (Department of Energy (DOE) coal-plant emergency orders, Blocked) — Keeping the Campbell plant open cost about $259 million, mostly passed on to ratepayers. The D.C. Circuit ruled against DOE’s orders Sept 11, 2026.¹²,¹⁵⁴
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Interior employees (staff cuts, In force) — EPA abolished its research office and cut staff about 23% (Jul 18, 2025). It has about 3,700 fewer positions. Interior’s workforce is down about 20% after 15 months, by Government Executive’s count on Apr 2, 2026.²⁹,⁶⁷,¹⁴⁸
• Green-bank grantees (Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund terminations, Pending) — The $20 billion fund remains frozen. The full D.C. Circuit ruled 6–4 for the grantees Aug 4, 2026. Days later it paused the payout so EPA could seek Supreme Court review.¹⁷,¹⁶,¹³⁸
• Low-income households (Solar for All cancellation, Blocked) — EPA cancelled the $7 billion program for 900,000 households Aug 7, 2025. More than 20 states sued Oct 16, 2025. A judge sent their suit to the Court of Federal Claims Jun 1, 2026. In a separate suit, Judge Mary McElroy cancelled the termination Sept 18, 2026.⁷,⁶³,¹⁶⁰,¹⁸⁷,¹⁸⁸
• Grantees in states Kamala Harris won (DOE award terminations, Pending) — During the shutdown that began Oct 1, 2025, DOE cancelled about $8 billion in projects. It stated in a Jul 15, 2026 filing that 284 terminated grants were selected “based solely on the political identity” of the recipients’ states. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had told Congress Jun 10 the cancellations were not political. A suit by 13 states survived a request to dismiss it Jun 2, 2026.⁴⁸,⁸,⁶⁵,¹³⁰,¹⁷⁷
• Clean-energy loan holders (DOE loan cancellations and revisions, In force) — DOE said Jan 22, 2026 it had cancelled almost $30 billion and restructured or revised about $53 billion. It moved about $9.5 billion from wind and solar to natural gas and nuclear. It named no projects.¹¹⁷
• Community Change Grant recipients (EPA withholding and termination, Unresolved) — The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found Oct 7, 2026 that EPA’s withholding of more than $1.5 billion broke the Impoundment Control Act.⁵⁸
• Environmental and Climate Justice Program grantees (EPA termination, Blocked) — Judge Richard Gergel cancelled the termination Jun 11, 2026 as “arbitrary and capricious and unlawful,” and ordered EPA to keep running the program through Sept 30, 2026.¹²⁰,¹⁸⁴
• Communities with disaster-mitigation projects (Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program termination, Blocked) — FEMA cancelled the $4.6 billion program Apr 4, 2025. Judge Richard Stearns permanently blocked the termination Dec 11, 2025 and found parts of his ruling not carried out Mar 6, 2026.⁴²,¹²⁵,¹⁵¹,¹⁵²
• FEMA employees (half-workforce cut, Blocked) — Judge Susan Illston ruled the plan to cut the agency’s workforce in half unlawful Sept 12, 2026.¹³
• National Weather Service (NWS) staff and forecast users (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) layoffs, In force) — Layoffs began Feb 27, 2025 and NWS is down about 550 staff. Contracts lapsed from Apr 1, 2025, after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick required his approval of contracts over $100,000. They included the one for translating weather alerts.⁹,⁴¹,¹⁰
• Texas Hill Country flood victims (weather-service vacancies, In force; effect disputed) — The Jul 4, 2025 floods killed more than 130 people. The local NWS office had 6 of 27 posts empty. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not approve search-and-rescue deployment for 72+ hours (until Jul 7). The Department of Homeland Security said other parts of the department filled in. Forecasters issued warnings, and Lutnick said NWS was “fully staffed.”¹⁰,⁴⁴,¹⁵⁸,⁴⁵
• States seeking disaster declarations (presidential disaster decisions, In force) — An AP analysis in July 2026 found Trump approved about 80% of requests from Republican governors and 60% from Democrats. On Jul 3, 2026 he rejected four Democratic-led states’ blizzard requests, totaling $227 million. FEMA and NOAA had certified them as meeting federal standards.⁴⁷,¹⁷³
• Offshore wind projects (stop-work orders, Blocked) — Interior suspended all five farms under construction Dec 22, 2025. Courts let all five resume. Vineyard Wind 1 reached full commercial operation Oct 29, 2026 and Revolution Wind full power by Nov 5.⁵,³⁷,¹¹,¹⁸³
• Offshore lease holders (lease buybacks, Pending) — By September 2026 Interior had agreed to pay about $3.9 billion for 12 leases, including $928 million to TotalEnergies (Mar 23, 2026). Eight states are suing.³⁸,⁴⁰
• Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments (monument cuts, In force) — Cut from 3.2 million acres to under 303,000 on Jul 13, 2026. On Oct 13 Judge Tanya Chutkan revived the 2017 suits. She required 48 hours’ notice before any ground disturbance.⁶,⁵³,¹⁷⁹
• Big Bend National Park and Sector (border-wall environmental waivers, In force) — The waivers covered border walls and roads that the government said would span more than 300 miles. CBS News reported that other structures, though not the wall, would run through the park. Work began Aug 6, 2026. Judge Kathleen Cardone blocked construction Oct 2. The Supreme Court paused her order Nov 9, so work can go ahead while the case continues.⁷³,¹⁸⁵,¹⁸⁶

Key players

• Donald Trump — President — energy, coal and monument orders; announced the endangerment repeal.²,⁴⁹,⁶,⁴
• Lee Zeldin — EPA Administrator — endangerment repeal, grant terminations.⁴,¹⁷
• Doug Burgum — Interior Secretary (confirmed Jan 30, 2025) — drilling orders, wind stop-work orders, lease buybacks, ESA repeal, Izembek land swap; led the Endangered Species Committee.¹⁸,⁵,⁴⁰,⁵⁵,¹¹⁵,¹¹⁸
• Chris Wright — Energy Secretary — brought together the Climate Working Group; issued the coal orders; announced the loan cancellations; told Congress the October 2025 grant cancellations were not political.³¹,³,¹¹⁷,⁸,⁶⁵
• Kristi Noem — Homeland Security Secretary (fired Mar 2026) — required her sign-off on FEMA spending.⁶⁸,⁴³
• Howard Lutnick — Commerce Secretary — required his sign-off on NOAA contracts; said NWS was “fully staffed.”⁴¹,¹⁰
• Tanya Chutkan, Royce Lamberth, Cornelia Pillard, Susan Illston, William Young — federal judges — ruled against the green-bank terminations, wind stop-work orders, coal orders, FEMA cuts and the Climate Working Group.¹⁷,¹⁸²,¹²,¹³,³³
• Patti Saris, Richard Stearns and Gergel — federal judges — cancelled the Day-1 wind memorandum, blocked the FEMA mitigation-program termination, and cancelled the environmental-justice program termination.¹¹³,¹²⁵,¹²⁰
• Rob Bonta — California Attorney General — led the suit over the vehicle-waiver resolutions.¹¹¹

Chronology

• 2025-01-20 — Paris Agreement withdrawal — → ledger
• 2025-01-20 — National energy emergency, wind moratorium — → ledger
• 2025-01-20 — EO 14154 pauses IRA and IIJA disbursements; enjoined Apr 15 — → ledger
• 2025-01-20 — Ethics EO rescinded — → ledger
• 2025-01-30 — Burgum confirmed, drilling orders — → ledger
• 2025-02 (approx) — Environmental web pages and data removed; FEMA Future Risk Index taken down — → ledger
• 2025-02-06 — Highway Administration suspends NEVI EV-charger program — → ledger
• 2025-02 (mid) — Zeldin attacks green-bank grants; Citibank freezes accounts — → ledger
• 2025-02-27 — NOAA mass layoffs — → ledger
• 2025-03-04 — Embassy air-quality monitors shut off — → ledger
• 2025-03-11 — EPA issues green-bank termination notices — → ledger
• 2025-03-12 — Zeldin announces endangerment reconsideration — → ledger
• 2025-03-18 — Chutkan temporarily blocks green-bank terminations — → ledger
• 2025-03-20 — ANWR and NPR-A reopened — → ledger
• 2025-03-24 — EPA opens email inbox for air-toxics exemption requests — → ledger
• 2025-04-01 — Weather-alert translation contract lapses under Lutnick sign-off rule — → ledger
• 2025-04-04 — FEMA cancels BRIC — → ledger
• 2025-04-08 — EO targeting state climate laws — → ledger
• 2025-04-08 — Interior ends federal coal-leasing moratorium — → ledger
• 2025-04-08 — Proclamation exempts 68 coal plants from mercury standards — → ledger
• 2025-04-10 — ProPublica: EPA told to draft a rule dropping 40 of 41 greenhouse-gas reporting sectors — → ledger
• 2025-04-14 — USDA cancels Climate-Smart Commodities — → ledger
• 2025-04-15 — Chutkan enjoins green-bank terminations — → ledger
• 2025-04-16 — Interior halts Empire Wind — → ledger
• 2025-04-16 — ESA “harm” rule proposed — → ledger
• 2025-04-17 — Burgum order centralizes Interior administration — → ledger
• 2025-04-17 — Pacific Remote Islands monument opened to fishing — → ledger
• 2025-04-23 — Emergency permitting for fossil fuels — → ledger
• 2025-05-12 — USDA restores climate pages — → ledger
• 2025-05-14 — EPA delays PFAS drinking-water limits — → ledger
• 2025-05-19 — Empire Wind stop-work order lifted after Hochul signals pipeline openness — → ledger
• 2025-05-23 — First DOE 202(c) order keeps Campbell coal plant open — → ledger
• 2025-06 (early) — Noem $100,000 sign-off rule — → ledger
• 2025-06-12 — Columbia River salmon agreement abandoned — → ledger
• 2025-06-12 — CRA resolutions void California vehicle waivers; states sue — → ledger
• 2025-06-24 — Lin orders NEVI charger money released — → ledger
• 2025-06-30 — EPA staff publish “Declaration of Dissent” — → ledger
• 2025-07-03 — EPA puts 139 dissent signers on leave — → ledger
• 2025-07-04 — Texas Hill Country floods — → ledger
• 2025-07-07 — Noem authorizes FEMA search-and-rescue deployment — → ledger
• 2025-07-17 — Interior requires secretary’s sign-off on wind and solar decisions — → ledger
• 2025-07-17 — Proclamations exempt taconite and chemical facilities from air rules — → ledger
• 2025-07-18 — EPA abolishes research office — → ledger
• 2025-07-29 — Endangerment repeal proposed — → ledger
• 2025-07-29 — DOE Climate Working Group report released with the repeal proposal — → ledger
• 2025-08 — EDF and UCS sue DOE under FACA over the Climate Working Group — → ledger
• 2025-08-06 — Interior moves to cancel Lava Ridge wind approval — → ledger
• 2025-08-07 — Solar for All cancelled — → ledger
• 2025-08-15 — DOT restarts NEVI program — → ledger
• 2025-08-22 — Interior halts Revolution Wind — → ledger
• 2025-08-25 — FEMA staff send Congress the “Katrina Declaration” — → ledger
• 2025-08-26 — FEMA puts Katrina Declaration signers on leave — → ledger
• 2025-08-27 — Doggett accuses Commerce of withholding NOAA flood answers — → ledger
• 2025-08-29 — EPA fires dissent signers — → ledger
• 2025-09-02 — D.C. Circuit panel sends green-bank dispute to Claims Court — → ledger
• 2025-09-03 — Wright dissolves the Climate Working Group — → ledger
• 2025-09-11 — EPA proposes ending greenhouse-gas reporting — → ledger
• 2025-09-22 — Lamberth enjoins Revolution Wind stop-work order — → ledger
• 2025-10-01 — Shutdown-era energy grant cancellations — → ledger
• 2025-10-06 — Trilogy Metals stake and Ambler Road approval — → ledger
• 2025-10-10 — U.S. rejects IMO Net-Zero Framework and threatens supporters — → ledger
• 2025-10-16 — More than 20 states sue over Solar for All — → ledger
• 2025-10-17 — IMO adjourns Net-Zero Framework vote — → ledger
• 2025-10-21 — Izembek land exchange signed — → ledger
• 2025-10-24 — Copper smelter exempted from EPA air rule — → ledger
• 2025-11-04 — Court grants motion to enforce in Woonasquatucket — → ledger
• 2025-11-12 — Three suits filed over Izembek exchange — → ledger
• 2025-12-01 — DHS returns Katrina Declaration signers to leave — → ledger
• 2025-12-08 — Saris vacates Day-1 wind memorandum — → ledger
• 2025-12-11 — Stearns permanently enjoins BRIC termination — → ledger
• 2025-12-17 — Full D.C. Circuit grants green-bank rehearing — → ledger
• 2025-12-22 — All five offshore wind farms suspended — → ledger
• 2026-01-12 — Lamberth again lets Revolution Wind resume — → ledger
• 2026-01-12 — Energy emergency continued for one year — → ledger
• 2026-01-22 — DOE cancels or revises $83B in loans — → ledger
• 2026-01-23 — EO 14377 on Los Angeles rebuilding permits — → ledger
• 2026-01-30 — Judge Young’s FACA ruling on the Climate Working Group — → ledger
• 2026-02-06 — Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument opened to fishing — → ledger
• 2026-02-11 — Executive order directs military coal-power purchases — → ledger
• 2026-02-12 — Endangerment Finding repeal finalized — → ledger
• 2026-02-18 — Health and environmental groups petition against endangerment repeal — → ledger
• 2026-02-18 — California v. Wright: 13 states sue over terminated energy awards — → ledger
• 2026-02-20 — EPA finalizes mercury and air-toxics rollback — → ledger
• 2026-03-05 — Noem fired as DHS Secretary — → ledger
• 2026-03-06 — Stearns enforces BRIC judgment — → ledger
• 2026-03-19 — 24 states petition against endangerment repeal — → ledger
• 2026-03-31 to 04-03 — Endangered Species Committee exempts Gulf oil and gas — → ledger
• 2026-04-02 — Interior opens new deferred-resignation round — → ledger
• 2026-04-20 — Five Defense Production Act energy determinations — → ledger
• 2026-05-01 — State says it blocked IMO shipping levy — → ledger
• 2026-05-18 — EPA to “rescind and restart” four PFAS rules — → ledger
• 2026-06-01 — Court sends states’ Solar for All suit to the Court of Federal Claims — → ledger
• 2026-06-02 — Court denies motion to dismiss and to transfer California v. Wright — → ledger
• 2026-06-02 — States sue over TotalEnergies payment — → ledger
• 2026-06-04 — GAO B-337838 on DOE clean-energy spending — → ledger
• 2026-06-11 — Pacific marine monuments opened to fishing — → ledger
• 2026-06-11 — Gergel vacates termination of the Environmental and Climate Justice Program — → ledger
• 2026-06-26 — PD 2026-16 Clean Water Act exemption for Joint Base Andrews golf courses — → ledger
• 2026-06-30 to 08-14 — EPA drops AirToxScreen cancer-risk estimates — → ledger
• 2026-07-01 — Trump approves six Republican-led states’ disaster requests — → ledger
• 2026-07-03 — Trump denies four states’ blizzard requests — → ledger
• 2026-07-03 — Pardons for Clean Air Act violators — → ledger
• 2026-07 (early) to 07-29 — Disaster aid sorted by party — → ledger
• 2026-07-10 — ESA “harm” rule finalized — → ledger
• 2026-07-13 — Utah monument cuts — → ledger
• 2026-07-14 — Groups sue over ESA “harm” rule — → ledger
• 2026-07-15 — DOE admits political grant cuts — → ledger
• 2026-07-17 — Blanket 4(d) rule repealed — → ledger
• 2026-07-22 — Gergel orders EPA to keep administering the Environmental and Climate Justice Program — → ledger
• 2026-08-04 — Full D.C. Circuit rules 6–4 for green-bank grantees — → ledger
• 2026-08-04 — House Science Democrats refer Wright to DOJ — → ledger
• 2026-08-10 — NOAA ends Arctic Report Card support — → ledger
• 2026-08-18 — Court vacates Izembek exchange — → ledger
• 2026-09 — Offshore wind buybacks reach ~$3.9B for 12 leases — → ledger
• 2026-09-03 — Clemency batch for diesel-delete polluters — → ledger
• 2026-09-09 — CREW Hatch Act complaint over DOE cancellations — → ledger
• 2026-09-10 — White House moves to amend NCA5 — → ledger
• 2026-09-11 — D.C. Circuit rejects DOE’s Campbell coal order — → ledger
• 2026-09-12 — Illston rules FEMA workforce cut unlawful — → ledger
• 2026-09-13 — EPA moves to end power-plant carbon limits — → ledger
• 2026-09-18 — McElroy cancels the Solar for All termination — → ledger
• 2026-09-29 — Interior and Alaska appeal Izembek ruling — → ledger
• 2026-10-01 — King Cove Corp. appeals Izembek ruling — → ledger
• 2026-10-02 — Cardone enjoins Big Bend border-wall construction — → ledger
• 2026-10-05 — D.C. Circuit denies stay of endangerment repeal — → ledger
• 2026-10-05 — Supreme Court term opens with Suncor — → ledger
• 2026-10-07 — GAO: EPA Community Change Grants impounded — → ledger
• 2026-10-09 — En banc court clarifies green-bank stay — → ledger
• 2026-10-13 — Utah monument suits revived — → ledger
• 2026-10-21 — Cardone denies stay; Solicitor General applies to the Supreme Court — → ledger
• 2026-10-22 to 28 — Section 232 proclamation on wind-turbine imports — → ledger
• 2026-10-22 — Sixth Defense Production Act determination — → ledger
• 2026-10-26 — DOE seeks rehearing of Campbell ruling — → ledger
• 2026-10-29 — Vineyard Wind 1 reaches full commercial operation — → ledger
• 2026-11-02 — Government and Citibank ask the Supreme Court to hear the green-bank case — → ledger
• 2026-11-05 — Revolution Wind reaches full power — → ledger
• 2026-11-09 — Supreme Court pauses Cardone’s Big Bend order — → ledger

Sources