The Trump administration is asking a federal judge to let it reconsider a major federal permit granted for a large offshore wind farm, making it the fourth project the Republican leadership has targeted in recent months.
Officials started buying back offshore wind leases after federal judges blocked its efforts to stop construction on five major East Coast projects. The plan was approved in 2024 during the Biden administration. Because the plan was approved despite major adverse impacts, the Justice Department said in a filing on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) that the Court should send the permit back to Interior,.
The Interior Department wants to reconsider its own approval for the “construction and operations plan” for the New England Wind project off Massachusetts. The Trump administration is using executive orders, agency actions and the courts to try to stop the development of offshore wind, a technology that President Donald Trump has attacked as “ugly” and unreliable compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. Last year, a federal judge said the Trump administration could reconsider the permit granted to the Massachusetts project SouthCoast Wind days before the President’s inauguration to a second term. Pasha Feinberg, an offshore wind strategist at the Natural Resources Defence Council, said the Trump administration’s attacks on offshore wind are escalating at a time when Americans are struggling with surging utility bills. “It’s long past time for the Trump administration to realise its war on clean energy is backfiring,” Mr. Feinberg said. “The Senate has made meaningful progress on deep reforms that would provide greater certainty for energy projects across the board,” said the association’s president, Erik Milito. The administration’s actions “underscore why Congress needs to get this done”, he said.
Interior said in a statement on Wednesday (October 21, 2026) that the latest filing complied with a briefing schedule and was not announcing a policy change.
Its position on offshore wind has remained consistent throughout this administration, the statement said.
