Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, alongside a multistate coalition, filed an amended complaint expanding its ongoing legal challenge to





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*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:*
February 2, 2026




*Media Contact:*
Danny Wimmer <[email protected]>






AG Nessel Files Amended Complaint in Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over ‘Declaring a National Energy Emergency’ Executive Order

*LANSING *— Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, alongside a multistate coalition, filed an amended complaint (PDF) [ [link removed] ] expanding its ongoing legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order (EO) entitled “Declaring a National Energy Emergency.” The amended complaint adds the United States Department of the Interior as a Defendant, challenging its actions to illegally bypass requirements in the National Environmental Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and other federal laws when permitting fossil fuel and other energy projects.  

Last May, the multistate coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the President’s EO [ [link removed] ], along with the actions taken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation pursuant to the EO. Although national energy production reached an all-time high under President Biden and has continued growing, President Trump unlawfully invoked authority under the National Emergencies Act to improperly declare a “national energy emergency.” Despite there being no energy emergency, pursuant to the EO, the Department of the Interior asserts the existence of an energy emergency to fast-track fossil fuel projects while simultaneously blocking the development of cost-effective wind and solar energy projects. As a result, Attorney General Nessel and the coalition amended the previously filed complaint to include the Department of the Interior. Attorney General Nessel also continues to challenge the Department of Energy’s orders that mandate the continued operation of the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant [ [link removed] ] in West Olive, Michigan, under the pretense of a fabricated energy emergency.  

“We’ve already seen how the Trump administration has unlawfully forced the J.H. Campbell coal plant right here in Michigan to stay open under the guise of its fake energy emergency,” said Attorney General Nessel. “Now, the Department of the Interior is bypassing essential environmental regulations simply to pad Big Oil’s profits. My office will continue pushing back against these illegal actions and defending the rule of law.”

On January 20th, 2025, his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order that declared a “national energy emergency” under the National Emergencies Act. Pursuant to this directive, the Corps was instructed to identify projects for accelerated permitting under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Under Section 404 of the CWA, the Corps issues permits for the discharge of dredged or fill materials into navigable waters nationwide, typically for water resource projects such as dams and levees, infrastructure development such as highways and airports, mining projects, and flood control projects. The Corps subsequently issued “special emergency permit processing procedures” for Corps districts across the country that bypass standard processes and protections. Other agencies, including the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Department of the Interior, have followed suit, issuing emergency procedures and/or guidance to expedite permitting of energy projects and avoid ordinary processes and protections. Until now, federal agencies have used emergency procedures during actual emergencies such as hurricanes and catastrophic oil spills — for example, the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Federal agencies are now acting under emergency procedures only due to the President’s decision to declare a national energy emergency when no such emergency exists.

In the amended complaint, the coalition argues that the Department of the Interior also illegally bypassed the legal requirements set forth in numerous federal laws when permitting fossil fuel and other energy projects, including the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Joining Attorney General Nessel in filing this amended complaint are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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