Defend the Endangered Species Act Against Administration's Gutting Rules

Congress must act now to push back against the Trump administration's systematic dismantling of the Endangered Species Act. In just the past few weeks, the administration has repealed the ESA's definition of "harm," stripped automatic protections from threatened species, and made it easier to exclude critical habitat whenever economic interests are at stake. Together, these three rule changes make the ESA nearly unenforceable — and that is clearly the point. The grizzly bear shows exactly where this leads. Grizzlies exist in small, genetically isolated populations across the Northern Rockies. Under the new critical habitat rule, if bears are stable in Yellowstone, no habitat needs to be protected anywhere else — even as those isolated populations collapse. Chris Servheen, who led grizzly recovery at USFWS for 35 years, put it plainly: "grizzly bear recovery will be dead in a few years" if these policies continue. The ESA has prevented extinction for 99% of listed species. These rules don't reform that record — they reverse it. The administration's press releases mirror Project 2025 language almost word for word. This isn't regulatory modernization; it's a coordinated effort to gut a law that has worked for 50 years. Congress should use every available tool — oversight hearings, appropriations riders, and legislation — to block these rules and restore the ESA's original protections.