Trump administration waves white flag, abandons effort to end offshore wind leasing and permitting

Following the President’s ‘Day One’ wind memorandum, in May 2025, a multistate coalition filed a lawsuit challenging it and, in December, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a judgment in favour of the coalition, declaring the challenged section of the Presidential Wind Memorandum unlawful and vacating it in its entirety.

Although the Trump administration initially appealed the order to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, last week it reversed course and filed a motion to dismiss its appeal. 

A 16 June 2026 judgment by the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit granting voluntary dismissal of the appeal cemented the states’ victory and is the final resolution of the matter. 

The judgment by the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit granted the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss its appeal of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts judgment invalidating the ‘Day One’ Presidential memorandum, thereby leaving the district court’s judgment undisturbed and constituting the final resolution of the matter in favour of the coalition. 

Pursuant to the directive, federal agencies had stopped all permitting and approval activities related to onshore or offshore wind energy projects. The coalition argued, and the court agreed, that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act because, among other things, the agencies provided no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy approvals. 

The multistate coalition sued the administration, arguing that the President’s memorandum was illegal and would harm states’ efforts to secure reliable, diversified, and affordable sources of energy to meet increasing demand for electricity. Wind power also helps to reduce harmful air emissions, meet clean energy goals, and address climate change. 

The directive also presented a threat to the states’ significant investments in wind industry infrastructure, supply chains, and workforce development, investments in the billions of dollars.