Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has expressed support for the Trump administration’s efforts to change rules under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have proposed reinstating four rules from Trump’s first term and reversing some of the Biden administration’s ESA regulations.
“For far too long, the Biden administration weaponized outdated ESA rules to punish western landowners and sideline local experts, holding them hostage rather than inviting them to be partners in species recovery,” said Lummis. “Instead of emboldening radical D.C. bureaucrats and environmentalists like the previous administration did, President Trump and Secretary Burgum are taking a logical approach to land management. This administration understands that the people who live on and work the land are our greatest allies in conservation, not our enemies.”
Earlier in 2024, Lummis led Vice Chair Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) in introducing three Congressional Review Act resolutions aimed at overturning changes made by the Biden administration to key Trump-era ESA policies. In July, she also introduced legislation called the Endangered Species Recovery Act, which would rename the original Endangered Species Act of 1973.
The proposed rules from the Trump administration aim to replace provisions that were reimposed by regulatory packages in 2024. These provisions had previously been found inconsistent with the statutory text of the ESA. The new proposals seek to use standards based on decades of experience implementing the law, align with judicial precedent, and follow recent Supreme Court guidance that agencies must adhere to legislative text.
