Democrats are wasting no time seeking answers from U.S. President Donald Trump’s government on its moves to roll back key protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as they prepare to take control of Congress in the new year.
Democrats won sweeping victories in the November mid-term elections, swapping control of both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate from Republican to Democrat control. The change in power will give Democrat lawmakers a stronger position to push back on Trump’s policy agenda, which has included massive cuts to staff and funding at NOAA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and rewriting rules designed to protect endangered animals.
After the results of the elections were clear, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-California), the ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee, announced that Democrats would use their new influence to protect U.S. lands and waters.
“We're fired up to get to work on what voters just mandated us to do: bring down costs, protect the lands and waters we all share, and make sure people can afford to build a life in the places they call home. The American people voted for a government that works for them, and we're going to fight like hell to deliver,” Huffman said.
Huffman also sent a letter to 36 federal agencies ordering them to preserve documents, communications, and other records as his party prepares to ramp up investigations of the Trump administration.
“For two years, this administration has stonewalled us and kept the American people in the dark while Democrats have fought tirelessly to daylight and stop their corruption. Those days of obstruction are over.” Huffman said. “I am sending a message to President Trump and his allies: our investigations will continue full steam ahead. And to every agency official and corporate executive receiving these letters: save everything. The American people deserve to know what you did with their government and their money, and we intend to get them answers.”
Now, Huffman has led his Democrat colleagues in asking a series of questions about two policy changes the administration is pursuing: the recission of the definition of “harm” under the ESA to exclude habitat concerns, and a leaked memo allowing the accidental killing of endangered species. The former rule went into effect in September, while the latter has not been officially confirmed by the administration.
“These new memoranda attempt to entirely eliminate any guardrails on incidental take,” the lawmakers state in the joint letters. “We are alarmed by the enormous consequences the interpretation could have for species across the country.”
The legislators have demanded answers to several questions related to these policies by 30 November.
The legislative effort follows an attempt by environmental groups to secure federal records related to these policy changes under the Freedom of Information Act; those groups are now suing the government for those records after it did not respond to their request.
The recission of the definition of “harm” under the ESA has already been challenged in the courts, with lawsuits being filed by both conservation groups and state attorneys general.
The rule change has also been challenged in Congress, where Senate Democrats have introduced a resolution to undo the recission under the Congressional Review Act, and a bipartisan pair of lawmakers have introduced legislation to reverse the change.
