Well, in a rare moment of clarity and spine, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday decided to rein in the robe-wearing regulators who’ve been waging lawfare against President Trump’s America First agenda. In an 8-0 ruling — yes, even the liberal justices couldn’t bring themselves to dissent — the high court took a swing at the weaponization of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which has long been the go-to tool for far-left environmental groups to grind progress to a halt.
The ruling came in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, a case that revolved around how much authority judges really have to stop infrastructure and energy projects in the name of “environmental concerns.” For decades, NEPA has been a bludgeon — not a shield — used to delay, block, or outright cancel everything from oil refineries and pipelines to roads and bridges. The left has loved it because it gives unelected activists and federal judges the power to micromanage the economy from their D.C. courtrooms.
But not anymore. Writing for the court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh made it clear: “NEPA does not allow courts, ‘under the guise of judicial review’ of agency compliance with NEPA, to delay or block agency projects based on the environmental effects of other projects separate from the project at hand.” Translation: no more creative legal gymnastics to stall every single development in the country.
Kavanaugh went further, saying courts should defer to agencies and “not micromanage” as long as the decisions fall “within a broad zone of reasonableness.” Which, let’s be honest, is how it should’ve worked from the beginning. Judges aren’t environmental scientists, engineers, or economists. They’re supposed to interpret the law — not greenlight or stonewall infrastructure based on personal politics.
And let’s not pretend this ruling didn’t come at a critical time. The Trump Administration has been hammering the courts for years now over judicial overreach, especially when it comes to infrastructure and energy independence. This is a long-overdue check on rogue judges who think their black robes give them the authority to govern.
Justice Gorsuch was not present for the ruling, but honestly, with an 8-0 vote, his absence didn’t matter. The message from the Court was loud and clear: NEPA is not a license to paralyze America’s progress.
Finally, some sanity from the bench.
It has appeared the district federal courts have been attempting to usurp governance of our nation from our legally elected officials.
It about time that the Supreme Court put the district courts in their place!