Gulf Drillers Skip Endangered Species Act

0:00It's March 31st. This is U.S. News Today, your AI-powered source for national news. A federal panel just made a huge call, voting unanimously on Tuesday to let oil and gas drillers in the Gulf of Mexico skip endangered species act. Rules. That decades-old law protects whales, birds, and sea turtles from harm during operations. This marks the first meeting of the endangered species committee in over 30 years, and it's part of the Trump administration's push to roll back. Regs, they say, cramped domestic energy output. All six members greenlit the exemption from Interior Secretary Doug Bergam to EPA head Lee Zeldin because War Secretary Pete Hegseth requested it, outright. Hegseth argued that ongoing lawsuits could halt gulf drilling entirely, calling the waiver critical for national security to keep energy flowing. Without interruptions. With this shield in place, drillers can push forward despite the legal heat, balancing energy needs against wildlife protections in a tense standoff.