Trump Signs Order to Remove Biden’s Restrictions on Offshore Drilling Projects

Just before leaving office, Joe Biden banned new offshore leasing projects in US waters.

The order took about 625 million acres of ocean out of play.

Trump vowed to reverse the ban, which he did on his first day in office, but there is a massive caveat to the order.

Will It Hold

Joe Biden took a lot of offshore areas out of play during his administration via the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1950.

This legislation gives wide-ranging authority to a sitting president to block new gas and oil drilling projects.

In addition to the acreage mentioned above, Biden had previously taken another 2.8 million acres out of play in the Arctic Ocean, so that is 3.425 million acres overall.

Trump’s order will put all that water back in play, but there is a problem.

The order was challenged during Trump’s first term when he tried to reverse an Obama order that used the same legislation to ban projects.

Trump litigated that order in the lower courts and lost.

The ruling stated that while the law gave a president wide powers, it did not give another president the authority to reverse the order.

The only solace we have on this front is that the order never went to the Supreme Court, so as soon as someone challenges Trump’s order, and it will be challenged, Trump will likely try to expedite the matter to the Supreme Court.

This is a 50-50 case at best for Trump, but based on the wording of the act and previous rulings by the current members of the court, I doubt Trump will win this case.

I am fairly certain that Chief Justice Roberts will crossover, and when he does, he usually brings a Trump justice with him.

I can see either Kavanaugh or Barrett siding with Roberts IF he votes to leave Biden’s order in play.