Photographer: Jonathan Newton/Getty Images
Bobby Magill, Bloomberg Law
- Nonprofit environmental law groups adding attorneys
- Rarely convened ‘God Squad’ seen as tool to trim animal protections
Environmental law groups are hiring a cadre of attorneys in a bid to block President Donald Trump’s deregulatory efforts, which they assert will dismantle endangered species protections.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which sued the first Trump administration more than 280 times, is adding six lawyers. Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm that sued more than 200 times, is seeking eight more.
Both groups say they’re preparing to file possibly hundreds of lawsuits to challenge potential rollbacks under Trump’s Jan. 31 deregulation plan, which directs federal agencies to eliminate 10 rules for each new one they enact.
“We’re not as caught by surprise as we were last time around,” said Kristen Boyles, managing attorney for Earthjustice.
The scramble is a response to the disruption cascading across multiple departments and agencies, as the president and his newly formed Department of Government Efficiency seek to shrink government and repeal or replace every last vestige of the Biden agenda.
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