Trump Administration Loses Bid to Kill Future Climate Litigation

The federal government’s attempt to quash state litigation against oil companies over climate change before it’s even filed leads “inescapably” to dismissal, according to an order handed down Saturday.

The complaint brought by President Donald Trump to preempt Michigan from filing legal action against oil majors isn’t ripe for judicial review, according to Judge Jane M. Beckering of the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan. The Trump administration is also pursuing a similar complaint against Hawaii.

The administration’s lawsuit sought to preempt a version of litigation several other US states, cities, and counties have pursued against energy companies alleging climate deception and nuisance. The US claimed Michigan had solicited proposals from law firms over the fossil fuels industry’s impact on climate change.

Not only does the suit fail to establish how the federal government would be harmed by abstract, future litigation against energy companies, the court also couldn’t find any precedent in which judges granted this type of relief, according to the order.

“The federal government has failed to cite any case in which a court has preemptively enjoined a party from bringing a broad swath of unspecified claims against unspecified members of a given industry simply because that party has begun investigating whether a litigation strategy may have merit,” Beckering wrote.

Michigan did ultimately file a lawsuit against oil and gas companies the day before Beckering’s Jan. 24 order. That suit, brought by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, differentiates from other efforts against the companies and alleges that oil giants violated antitrust laws by stifling clean energy, which increased energy prices for consumers.

The case is United States of America v. Michigan, W.D. Mich., No. 1:25-cv-00496, Order 1/24/26.