Democrat Behind Permitting Deal Warns Trump’s Offshore Wind Fight Could Blow It Up

A Democratic senator behind a bipartisan permitting deal warned that a Trump administration court fight over offshore wind could sink the agreement.

The Justice Department has asked federal judges to send the Biden-era approvals for three East Coast offshore wind farms back to the Interior Department for reconsideration, according to court filings reported by Utility Dive. “This is how you blow up a permitting deal,” Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a cosponsor of the Senate permitting bill, said in an Oct. 21 statement, The Associated Press reported.

“The Department of the Interior is complying with a briefing schedule, not announcing a policy change,” an Interior Department spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Our position has remained consistent throughout this administration and this filing should not be misconstrued as a shift in the Department’s approach to offshore wind.”

An administration official said in a statement to the DCNF that the cases are lawsuits neighborhood groups brought against the wind companies and the government, that they date back to the Biden administration and that the government must respond on the courts’ briefing schedules. The official added that the administration has kept the offices of Whitehouse and Democratic New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich informed about the filings.

Whitehouse wrote on X Oct. 19, “The question of regulatory misbehavior against clean energy does need to be resolved before Democrats will vote for this bill.”

The Justice Department said it had no comment beyond what it has filed in court. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Ørsted, US Wind, Avangrid, the town of Ocean City and the offices of Whitehouse, Heinrich, Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

The three projects are Maryland Offshore Wind, New England Wind and Revolution Wind, which began delivering electricity to the region in March. The Justice Department filed its requests in lawsuits that opponents of the projects brought against the government, including a suit by Ocean City, Maryland, officials, Utility Dive reported.

Capito introduced the permitting bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, on Sept. 30 with Lee, Whitehouse and Heinrich as cosponsors, according to Congress.gov. S. 5653 was referred to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and has no reported action since.

The bill would bar federal agencies from revoking or altering permits held by non-federal project sponsors that were in effect on or after Sept. 16, 2026, according to its text. Exceptions include a court order, a permit holder breaking the law or committing fraud, and new information showing urgent harm.