Huffman, Colleagues Demand Answers on Trump Admin Effort to Gut Endangered Wildlife Protections
Lawmakers warn administration’s changes would leave protected species vulnerable to foreseeable deaths and habitat destruction
November 11, 2026
Washington, D.C. – Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.), and Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) led 37 other Democratic lawmakers in demanding answers from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the Trump administration’s attempts to gut core Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections by reinterpreting what the agencies consider “incidental take” and “harm” in memoranda to federal employees.
The lawmakers warned the reinterpretation would strip protections from wildlife killed or injured by otherwise lawful activities, even when those deaths and injuries could be foreseen. Under the administration’s interpretation, the law’s prohibition on killing or injuring protected wildlife would apply only when someone deliberately targets a protected species. The lawmakers warned this would undermine decades of safeguards that allow economic activity to proceed while requiring commonsense steps to prevent wildlife deaths and injuries.
“For decades, the ESA has provided a framework for allowing economic activity to proceed while requiring reasonable measures to avoid and minimize harm to threatened and endangered species. These memoranda would undermine that framework by removing incentives to prevent foreseeable wildlife deaths and injuries,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter challenges two identical internal memos issued September 14 by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration General Counsel John Luce. The memos direct staff to interpret “take” — which includes killing or injuring protected wildlife — as covering only intentional actions targeting those animals. The lawmakers are demanding an explanation of the legal basis for that interpretation and whether activities that could foreseeably kill or injure endangered species still require permits.
The directives came as the Trump administration eliminated the longstanding regulatory definition of “harm,” which covered habitat destruction that kills or injures protected wildlife. Both changes took effect the same day, threatening protections for endangered animals and the places they need to survive.
“Any reinterpretation that could eliminate protections for these species is a serious and troubling departure from that framework and would undermine the law’s implementation,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers requested responses by November 30, 2026, including what protections would remain for species threatened by habitat destruction and whether states and Tribes were consulted. They also asked whether Interior would suspend implementation until it publicly explains its legal reasoning and assesses the consequences for endangered wildlife.
“The Services must abandon this approach and preserve the ESA’s longstanding protections for threatened and endangered wildlife and the communities that depend on them,” the lawmakers concluded.
Additional House signers included Representatives Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), Sarah McBride (D-Del.), Dave Min (D-Calif.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Emily Randall (D-Wash.), Deborah Ross (D-N.C.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).
Additional Senate signers included Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
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