Does Trump have the political capital needed to gut or overturn the Endangered Species Act?

EarthTalk®

From the Editors of E – The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Does Trump have the political capital needed to gut or overturn the Endangered Species Act? — Alice Magritte, New Orleans, LA

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been one of America’s strongest environmental laws since it first passed in 1973. It’s credited with saving hundreds of species from extinction. Some species include the bald eagle and the gray wolf. But recently, the Trump administration has made several moves that critics say would weaken the ESA, particularly when it comes to defining what counts as “critical habitat.”

Under new rules announced in April 2025, federal agencies would no longer be required to protect areas that endangered species might potentially need to survive, only areas where they already live. This ignores that many species need room to migrate, adapt or recover. According to Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation at Earthjustice, “This is a recipe for extinction. Wildlife can’t survive if we don’t protect the places they need to live.”

So, does Trump actually have the political muscle to make these changes stick? In short, sort of—but it’s complicated. The administration does have backing from some Republican lawmakers and lobbyists tied to agriculture, oil and development industries. These groups claim the ESA is outdated and too restrictive, and that it interferes with land use and economic growth. But there’s also a lot of resistance. Environmental organizations like Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) are all filing lawsuits challenging the legality of the new rule. Polls show that the majority of Americans support strong protections for endangered wildlife as well.

Plus, the ESA is hard to fully overturn. It would take an act of Congress to repeal it, and that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon given the current split in Congress. Instead, what we’re seeing is more like a slow chipping away of protections, done through administrative rules that can be changed again by future presidents. Still, those changes can last for years and seriously affect vulnerable species in the meantime.

For people who care about wildlife, there are things you can do. Support conservation groups taking legal action. Call your representatives and ask them to strengthen wildlife laws. And stay informed—some of these policy changes happen quietly, without much media coverage. The more people speak out, the harder it is to roll back decades of environmental progress.

CONTACTS: Destroying endangered species’ habitat wouldn’t count as ‘harm’ under proposed Trump rule, https://www.npr.org/2025/04/17/nx-s1-5366814/endangered-species-act-change-harm-trump-rule; The Trump Administration Aims to Gut Critical Habitat Protections for Endangered Species, https://earthjustice.org/experts/drew-caputo/the-trump-administration-aims-to-gut-critical-habitat-protections-for-endangered-species.

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