Trump Moves to Weaken the Endangered Species Act; The New York Times, November 19, 2025

Maxine Joselow and Catrin Einhorn, The New York Times; Trump Moves to Weaken the Endangered Species Act

"The Trump administration proposed on Wednesday to significantly limit protections under the Endangered Species Act, the bedrock environmental law intended to prevent animal and plant extinctions.

Taken together, four proposed new rules could clear the way for more oil drilling, logging and mining in critical habitats for endangered species across the country.

One of the most contentious proposals would allow the government to assess economic factors, such as lost revenue from a ban on oil drilling near critical habitat, before deciding whether to list a species as endangered. The Endangered Species Act requires the government to consider only the best available science when making these decisions.

Another change would make it harder to protect species from threats that could occur in the future, like effects of climate change that could materialize in the decades to come."