Trump wants to use the ‘God Squad' to increase logging, but it must follow strict rules
To do that, the federal government would have to activate a seldom-used committee nicknamed the 'God Squad' because it can approve federal projects even if it leads to extinction of a species otherwise protected by the Endangered Species Act.
But experts say there are strict procedural requirements — and no provision under law to proactively use the committee to bypass protections.
Here's what to know:
What does Trump want?
The president on Saturday signed actions to increase domestic lumber production in national forests and other public lands, directing federal agencies to look for ways to bypass protections for endangered species.
Upon taking office in January, Trump declared a national energy emergency and directed the committee to convene at least quarterly to either consider exemptions or, if there are none, 'to identify obstacles to domestic energy infrastructure' related to the Endangered Species Act or the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Endangered Species Act makes it illegal to harm or kill protected species and has led to restrictions on logging, mining and oil and gas development. The Marine Mammal Protection Act bans killing and harassment of marine mammals with some limited exceptions.
What is the God Squad?
Officially called the Endangered Species Committee, it was established in 1978 as a way to exempt projects from Endangered Species Act protections if a cost-benefit analysis concluded it was the only way to achieve net economic benefits in the national or regional interest.
In the case of logging, the analysis also should determine if the benefits of cutting trees outweigh the economic value of watershed and other protections provided by standing timber, said Patrick Parenteau, an emeritus professor at the Vermont Law and Graduate School who helped write criteria for the God Squad.
The seven-member committee is led by the secretary of the Interior and includes the secretaries of Agriculture and the Army, administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Affected states also would be represented with one vote total, meaning multiple states would each get a fraction of a vote.
Five votes are required for an exemption.
When can the God Squad be convened?
The secretary of the Interior can convene the committee only for a specific project and only if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service — after a required environmental review — concludes the project would jeopardize survival of a protected species, Parenteau said.
Otherwise, 'there is no basis to convene the God Squad,' he said. 'Contrary to what Trump has been talking about, you don't convene this committee to grant exemptions prospectively. That is not legal. There's no jurisdiction for the committee to even be convened to do that.'
What has the committee done in the past?
Only twice in its 47 years has the committee issued exemptions. The first allowed construction of a dam on a section of the Platte River considered critical habitat for whooping cranes. But a negotiated settlement won significant protections that led to overall ecosystem improvement and a rebounded crane population.
The second exemption, during the George H.W. Bush administration, was for logging in northern spotted owl habitat. But the Bureau of Land Management under President Bill Clinton withdrew the request after environmental groups sued, arguing that the committee's decision was political and violated legal procedures.
___
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
8 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Black mayors of cities Trump decries as ‘lawless' tout significant declines in violent crimes
'It gives us an opportunity to say we need to amplify our voices to confront the rhetoric that crime is just running rampant around major US cities. It's just not true,' said Van Johnson, mayor of Savannah, Ga., and president of the African American Mayors Association. 'It's not supported by any evidence or statistics whatsoever.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up After deploying the first of 800 National Guard members to Washington, the Republican president is setting his sights on other cities including Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland, Calif., calling them crime-ridden and 'horribly run.' One thing they all have in common: They're led by Black mayors. Advertisement 'It was not lost on any member of our organization that the mayors either were Black or perceived to be Democrats,' Johnson said. 'And that's unfortunate. For mayors, we play with whoever's on the field.' Advertisement The federal government's actions have heightened some of the mayors' desires to champion the strategies used to help make their cities safer. Trump argued that federal law enforcement had to step in after a prominent employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was attacked in an attempted carjacking. He also pointed to homeless encampments, graffiti, and potholes as evidence of Washington 'getting worse.' However statistics published by Washington's Metropolitan Police contradict the president and show Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson scoffed at Trump's remarks, hailing the city's 'historic progress driving down homicides by more than 30 percent and shootings by almost 40 percent in the last year alone.' Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, where homicides fell 14 percent between 2023 and 2024, called the federal takeover nothing but a performative 'power grab.' In Baltimore, officials say they have seen historic decreases in homicides and nonfatal shootings this year, and those have been on the decline since 2022, according to the city's public safety data dashboard. Carjackings were down 20 percent in 2023, and other major crimes fell in 2024. Only burglaries have climbed slightly. The lower crime rates are attributed to tackling violence with a 'public health' approach, city officials say. In 2021, under Mayor Brandon Scott, Baltimore created a Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan that called for more investment in community violence intervention, more services for crime victims, and other initiatives. Scott accused Trump of exploiting crime as a 'wedge issue and dog whistle' rather than caring about curbing violence. 'He has actively undermined efforts that are making a difference saving lives in cities across the country in favor of militarized policing of Black communities,' Scott said via email. Advertisement The Democratic mayor pointed out that the Justice Department has slashed over $1 million in funding this year that would have gone toward community antiviolence measures. He vowed to keep on making headway, regardless. 'We will continue to closely work with our regional federal law enforcement agencies, who have been great partners, and will do everything in our power to continue the progress despite the roadblocks this administration attempts to implement,' Scott said. Just last week Oakland officials touted significant decreases in crime in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024, including a 21 percent drop in homicides and a 29 percent decrease in all violent crime, according to the midyear report by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Officials credited collaborations with community organizations and crisis response services through the city's Department of Violence Prevention, established in 2017. 'These results show that we're on the right track,' Mayor Barbara Lee said at a news conference. 'We're going to keep building on this progress with the same comprehensive approach that got us here.' After Trump gave his assessment of Oakland last week, she rejected it as 'fearmongering.' Social justice advocates agree that crime has gone down and say Trump is perpetuating exaggerated perceptions that have long plagued Oakland. Nicole Lee, executive director of Urban Peace Movement, an Oakland-based organization that focuses on empowering communities of color and young people through initiatives such as leadership training and assistance to victims of gun violence, said much credit for the gains on lower crime rates is due to community groups. 'We really want to acknowledge all of the hard work that our network of community partners and community organizations have been doing over the past couple of years coming out of the pandemic to really create real community safety,' Lee said. 'The things we are doing are working.' Advertisement She worries that an intervention by military forces would undermine that progress. 'It creates kind of an environment of fear in our community,' Lee said. In Washington, agents from multiple federal agencies, National Guard members and even the United States Park Police have been seen Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson Savannah's Johnson said he is all for partnering with the federal government, but troops on city streets is not what he envisioned. Instead, cities need federal assistance for things like multistate investigation and fighting problems such as gun trafficking, and cybercrimes. 'I'm a former law enforcement officer. There is a different skill set that is used for municipal law enforcement agencies than the military,' Johnson said. There has also been speculation that federal intervention could entail curfews for young people. But that would do more harm, Nicole Lee said, disproportionately affecting young people of color and wrongfully assuming that youths are the main instigators of violence. 'If you're a young person, basically you can be cited, criminalized, simply for being outside after certain hours,' Lee said. 'Not only does that not solve anything in regard to violence and crime, it puts young people in the crosshairs of the criminal justice system.' Advertisement For now, Johnson said, the mayors are watching their counterpart in Washington, Muriel Bowser, closely to see how she navigates the unprecedented federal intervention. She has been Johnson praised Bowser for carrying on with dignity and grace. 'Black mayors are resilient. We are intrinsically children of struggle,' Johnson said. 'We learn to adapt quickly, and I believe that we will and we are.'
CNN
9 minutes ago
- CNN
US suspends visitor visas for Gazans
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the State Department suspended visitor visas for Gazans because it received 'evidence' that some organizations facilitating the visas to the US 'have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' without providing further details. The State Department announced in a post on X on Saturday that it would halt all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza as it reviews the process that allows them to temporarily enter the US for medical and humanitarian reasons. Rubio told CBS' 'Face the Nation' on Sunday that 'evidence' had been presented to the Trump administration by 'numerous congressional offices' and that the department had received 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.' He did not give details on the evidence or the offices that presented it. Far-right Trump ally Laura Loomer has taken credit for the pause in the visas following her claims that the families arriving from Gaza 'threaten our national security.' Loomer specifically criticized HEAL Palestine, an American nonprofit dedicated to providing critical aid to Palestinian families, including bringing kids suffering from severe injuries, psychological trauma and malnourishment to receive care in the US. The group says it has evacuated 63 injured children and 148 total people. The group, which returns Palestinians back to the Middle East after they are treated in US hospitals, criticized the Trump administration's move to halt visitor visas, saying in a statement on Sunday, 'this is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program.' As of May, the US has issued almost 4,000 visas to people holding Palestinian Authority passports permitting them to seek medical treatment in America. That number also includes Palestinians living outside of Gaza, such as in the West Bank. Rubio said Sunday that while a 'small number' of visas had been issued to children, 'they come with adults accompanying them, obviously, and we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted.' 'We're not going to be in partnership with groups that have links or sympathies towards Hamas,' he continued, without naming any specific groups or providing more information to corroborate the administration's concerns. CNN reached out to the State Department for more information about the evidence cited by Rubio. President Donald Trump acknowledged last month there is 'real starvation' in Gaza, breaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with. 'I see it, and you can't fake that. So, we're going to be even more involved,' Trump told reporters of the humanitarian crisis.
Bloomberg
9 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Trump, Putin Agree on Ukraine Security Guarantees, US Envoy Says
Good morning. Trump and Putin agree on Ukraine security. China's stock market misses the mark for investors. And Apple's Vision Pro leaves consumers without content to immerse themselves in. Listen to the day's top stories.
