Lummis Praises Trump Administration for Rolling Back Antiquated and Burdensome Endangered Species Act Rules

November 20, 2025
Washington, D.C.—Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) applauded President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for taking decisive action to restore balance to theEndangered Species Act (ESA)by proposing four rules from President Trump’s first administration and clawing back the Biden administration’s most cumbersome ESA rules.
“For far too long, the Biden administration weaponized outdated ESA rules to punish western landowners and sideline local experts, holding them hostage rather than inviting them to be partners in species recovery,”said Lummis.“Instead of emboldening radical D.C. bureaucrats and environmentalists like the previous administration did, President Trump and Secretary Burgum are taking a logical approach to land management. This administration understands that the people who live on and work the land are our greatest allies in conservation, not our enemies.”
In May of 2024,Chair Lummis led Vice Chair Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) in introducing threeCongressional Review Act(CRA) resolutions to overturn the Biden administration’s reversal of key Trump-era improvements to theEndangered Species Act.
In July,Chair Lummis introduced theEndangered Species Recovery Act,legislation that would rename theEndangered Species Act of 1973to better reflect the law’s original intent.
The proposed rules are:
The 2024 regulatory packages had reimposed provisions previously deemed inconsistent with the ESA’s statutory text. The Trump administration’s proposed rules would replace those provisions with standards that reflect decades of implementation experience, consistent judicial precedent and the Supreme Court’s reaffirmation that agencies must follow the law as written.
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