A little-known federal panel with the power to greenlight projects even if they could wipe out a species is about to convene for the first time since the George HW Bush era. As Bloomberg reports, the Endangered Species Committee—nicknamed the "God Squad" for its authority to effectively seal a species' fate—is set to meet Tuesday after a judge cleared the way, more than a year after President Trump, on the first day of his second term, ordered it to start meeting regularly.
This time, the administration wants the committee to loosen Endangered Species Act protections for oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth citing reasons of national security amid oil market turmoil linked to the Iran war. Legal experts say it's the first bid to use the panel on national security grounds, and also without the usual formal application or evidentiary hearing. Environmental groups warn that broad exemptions could endanger the critically imperiled Rice's whale, which are believed to number around 51. The Center for Biological Diversity failed to stop the meeting but can challenge any exemption later. Since its creation in 1978, the God Squad has met only a handful of times and granted exemptions only twice.
Its members include Interior Secretary Doug Burgum as the current chair, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, Council of Economic Advisers' Acting Chair Pierre Yared, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs.
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