Booker, Senate Colleagues Launch Investigation into Trump Administration Decision to Waive Endangered Species Protections for Oil Drilling

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and 26 of his Senate colleagues are launching an investigation into a Trump Administration decision that could effectively end the existence of certain endangered species. The decision would grant an Endangered Species Act (ESA) exemption for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico.

At an Endangered Species Committee meeting convened on March 31, 2026 by the Department of Interior (DOI), Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth notified the Committee of "national security findings" necessitating an exemption to the ESA in the Gulf of Mexico. A voice vote was then taken to grant an exemption to all Gulf oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities.

"This swift yet opaque process raises serious questions around compliance with the ESA and Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which require transparency, public participation, and reasoned decision-making," wrote the Senators. "… Here, no robust public record has been made available, and the exemption risks being found 'arbitrary and capricious' under the APA for failing to adequately justify that it was necessary and consistent with the ESA."

In the Committee meeting, it came to light that DOI had initially notified DOD about "recent litigation . . . halting or severely compromising oil and gas activities in the Gulf" as a major reason prompting the exemption request. The referenced litigation appears to be a lawsuit involving the oil and gas industry in which the court issued a decision to protect Gulf endangered species that could be harmed by a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) lease sale.

This ESA exemption builds on the Trump Administration's pattern of prioritizing fossil fuel interests in the Gulf. During the 2025 government shutdown, BOEM approved a BP drilling project, despite its proximity to the habitat of the endangered Rice's whale. The species suffered a nearly 25 percent population loss after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with an estimated current population of just 50 whales. Another oil spill could spell extinction for the Rice's whale.

"Oil and gas industry capture of the federal government results in a life-or-death situation for wildlife-a harsh and unfortunate reality. Species pushed to the brink of extinction may no longer prompt greater protection but instead trigger further efforts by the administration to clear regulatory obstacles to development," wrote the Senators. "… The ESA does not permit the government to negotiate away a species' existence in exchange for fossil fuel production targets or political support. It requires decisions grounded in science, transparency, and the public interest."

In addition to Booker and Whitehouse, the letter was cosigned by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The senators are calling for the immediate withdrawal of the exemption and have requested documents and information related to the decision by May 18, 2026.

The full text of the letter to Secretaries Burgum and Hegseth is available here.

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