Donald Trump’s administration has deployed a federal panel known informally as the “God Squad,” a move critics say could override long-standing environmental protections. Their target isn’t explicitly to make a species extinct, but environmental groups warn the move could threaten the survival of one of Earth’s rarest mammals, known as Rice’s whale.
The “God Squad” is formally known as the Endangered Species Committee, and can override the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It has been a cornerstone conservation law that was put in place to prevent extinction. The squad has been convened only a handful of times since the 1970s. As one legal expert put it, that’s partly because the panel “literally has the power of life or death.”
This will be the fourth time the committee has acted and the first time on national security grounds.
Trump’s “God Squad” Might Vote for a Whale’s Extinction This Week https://t.co/CqWTxJ5Rce
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) March 29, 2026
The dispute centers on whether oil and gas operations in the Gulf should be subject to rules designed to protect endangered wildlife. The protections include slowing ships to avoid whale strikes and limiting seismic testing that disrupts marine communication.
Scientists warn that removing those guardrails could have immediate consequences.
The Rice’s whale is estimated to have roughly 50 individuals left, and all of them are confined to a narrow stretch of the Gulf. So, a single fatal ship strike involving a breeding female could push the species past the point of recovery. A federal study found the 2011 Deepwater Horizon spill had already killed about 17% of the Rice’s whales, even though it occurred outside their primary habitat.
Plus, sea turtles, manatees and whooping cranes also rely on ESA protections in the region.
The U.S. government has exempted oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico from protecting endangered animals.
They’re putting oil money over the safety of sea turtles, sperm whales, and several other endangered/threatened animals. pic.twitter.com/hniPGlt0Oh
— Pubity (@pubity) April 3, 2026
War Secretary Pete Hegseth argues that such regulations and lawsuits are only slowing down domestic energy production. He says tensions in Iran have disrupted global oil flows, and more so with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, cutting a significant portion of the world’s supply. Thus, the administration wants to boost U.S. oil output as a matter of national security.
“Disruptions to Gulf oil production don’t just hurt us; they benefit our adversaries,” Hegseth said.
However, environmental law expert Pat Parenteau (who helped shape the ESA) has said the justification is legally weak. Parenteau says the exemption is a last resort when there’s an unavoidable conflict between species protection and national interest. In this case, the lawsuits the administration is citing to support the God Squad haven’t halted drilling, nor have ESA rules blocked permits.
One of the world’s rarest whales lives in only one place: the Gulf of Mexico, where the Trump administration wants to expand oil and gas drilling that scientists fear could push the giant mammal to extinction.https://t.co/YkhvlNApVO
— PBS News (@NewsHour) April 6, 2026
If national security can be invoked this way, experts say, the ESA’s protections could be taken away beyond the Gulf. Future administrations could apply the same logic to any resource tied to economic or strategic interests.
The oil and gas industry, on the other hand, has not pushed for this exemption. The American Petroleum Institute said it would defer to the administration on national security matters and thereby distanced itself from the decision.
