March 30, 2026
A federal court struck down Trump’s attacks against the Endangered Species Act (ESA), restoring key values of this essential environmental law to the status it held for for over 50 years. After a seven-year legal battle, the Northern District of California Court found that a series of regulations from 2019 and 2024 were in clear violation of the statute and ordered those regulations immediately vacated. The ruling will derail ongoing efforts by the current Trump administration to further weaken the ESA.
The ruling reaffirms that federal agencies must use the best available science when assessing harm to species. Importantly, they cannot ignore incremental harm to critical habitat, and the agencies must firmly commit to any measures relied upon to reduce harm to vulnerable and endangered species.
Supporting the ESA ‘s critical habitat and harm designations support protecting endangered species where they survive. This will help support vulnerable species like whales and sharks protected under the ESA, but require sensitive marine habitat to continue.
The ESA is needed more than ever today, with over one-third of plants and animals in the U.S. at risk of extinction, in large part due to human activities that destroy habitat, overexploit and kill species, pollute water systems, escalated by climate change.