Judge Poised to Let State Offshore Wind Suit Against US Proceed

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Wednesday said he’s inclined to let some claims move forward against the Interior Department from states challenging the Trump administration’s pause on wind permitting.

He also said during the motion to dismiss hearing he would likely issue a tentative ruling dropping President Donald Trump from the suit.

“When I say the rulings are tentative, I mean that the matter warrants a written analysis and opinion, and I propose to provide one,” Judge William G. Young of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts said during arguments.

New York, more than a dozen other states, and the District of Columbia in May sued the Trump administration for halting federal offshore and onshore wind approvals.

Trump signed an executive order in January pausing permitting for wind projects, which led to work being halted on a wind farm offshore of New York. The project was later resurrected following negotiations between Trump and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), leading to a separate suit from fisheries.

The move to interrupt wind project permits was one of the many steps Trump took since taking office to hamper renewable energy and promote fossil fuels.

The Government Accountability Office on Monday also released a report finding the Energy Department didn’t take any actions implementing the executive order that prevented or delayed the appropriation of funds mandated by Congress for wind development.

The states challenging the pause argued the relevant agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a reasoned explanation for doing so.

“This is a blanket and categorical halt on all permitting,” said Turner Smith of the Massachusetts attorney general’s office on behalf of the states during arguments.

“Defendants have provided no end date,” she said.

Young asked about the states’ alleged harms.

“The Commonwealth has plans, and you’re saying this delay—inevitably now as we meet here in this courtroom today—interferes with the ability, again, in the real world, to accomplish the state’s plan for electric power?” he asked.

“That’s exactly right,” Smith said.

The Justice Department argued the states lack standing from failing to identify a final agency action they were challenging. The pause is also temporary to give the Interior Department time to review its wind permitting and development practices, the DOJ said.

“There is no final agency action here that they’ve identified because that requires a consummation of this decision making process,” said Michael Robertson of the DOJ on behalf of the government during arguments.

“Plaintiffs have just failed to identify any specific permit that has been delayed that has caused an injury,” he said. They have “identified these kind of general, attenuated ripple effects, but not anything specific, particular, and imminent from this temporary” order.

“They do complain that despite the wind directive saying that this does not apply to lease permits, they say it is interfering with the next steps with respect to leases already awarded,” said Young.

“Opposition would be those injuries are too far afield that they’ve alleged,” said Robertson. “It’s far beyond the imminence requirement what they put forward.”

The case is New York v. Trump, D. Mass., No. 1:25-cv-11221, arguments held 6/18/25.