Joco Today

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., along with Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Senate Western Caucus Vice Chair Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) introduced three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions. These resolutions aim to overturn the Biden administration's reversal of key reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Trump administration had previously increased stakeholder engagement, defined critical habitat, and ensured species recovery plans were effective.

These CRAs intend to keep the highly-effective Trump-era reforms in place instead of replacing them with mandates from Washington bureaucrats. According to these senators, such mandates could be disastrous to the western way of life.

"Under President Trump, we made great strides to create common sense reforms to the Endangered Species Act that cut regulatory red tape and still provided protections to threatened and endangered species," said Senator Marshall. "Unfortunately, the Biden Administration and the radical environmentalists he prioritizes won’t rest until they have killed the agriculture, forestry, and energy industries. These rules do nothing to protect species but make it virtually impossible to do business."

Senator Lummis added her perspective on the issue: “The Endangered Species Act has been a failed and flawed piece of legislation for more than 50 years. With a less than 2% recovery rate, the Trump-era reforms finally represented a real and meaningful step in the right direction."

Senator Sullivan expressed his concerns about the impacts of these rules on economy: “The Endangered Species Act was a well-intentioned law; however, the Biden administration is enacting ESA rules to promote a radical environmental agenda, despite the devastating impacts these rules have on our economy.”

Senator Ricketts also voiced his concerns about regulations hurting private property owners: “Biden bureaucrats are abusing their authority to push through stifling regulations that will hurt our economy and burden private property owners."

The resolutions are cosponsored by several senators, including Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Lee (R-UT), John Barrasso (R-WY), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Katie Britt (R-AL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and John Hoeven (R-ND).

The three Congressional Review Act resolutions aim to overturn a series of new rules put forth by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These rules undo three key reforms to the Endangered Species Act implemented by the Trump administration in 2019.