God Squad
March 7, 2025
A committee that emerges as a provocative and powerful governmental mechanism that quite literally determines the fate of endangered species…A committee that grants high-level officials an unprecedented authority to override environmental protections…The Endangered Species Committee, also known as the God Squad by President Donald Trump, is a group of seven members taking on regional and national projects with a sole focus on economic benefits.
President Trump has invoked the rarely-used God Squad—through executive orders—reflecting his intent to prioritize domestic energy infrastructure over environmental interests. This powerful panel consists of seven members—the secretary of Agriculture, the secretary of the Army, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—and possesses the ability to override environmental preservation regulations. With such a committee, President Trump can find loops around legal barriers to development projects, even if such actions might threaten species—especially those that are endangered.
Recently, President Trump’s executive orders revealed a calculated approach to wielding the controversial “God Squad” provision, a section of the Endangered Species Act that allows qualified governmental officials to overrule environmental protections for development purposes. By directing the Interior Secretary to assemble this committee quarterly, President Trump has signaled his administration’s intent to streamline domestic energy infrastructure projects, potentially at the expense of wildlife conservation.
The first executive order set by the Trump Administration requires identifying barriers to energy development that are caused by the Endangered Species Act or the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The second order speeds up the process for possible exemptions related to California’s water management. These actions demonstrate a clear political strategy to prioritize economic and infrastructure interests over environmental preservation.
Despite President Trump’s eager innovation of the Endangered Species Act Committee, environmental legal experts identified significant issues that complicated the implementation and process of the God Squad’s agenda. Critics point out that simply mentioning the committee in executive orders does not automatically trigger its ability to exercise extinction powers. The law mandates specific, complex procedures that can delay or even prevent interventions, meaning that Trump’s claims about quickly overriding environmental protections may face bureaucratic resistance. Environmental lawyers emphasize that the committee can not casually convene as Trump had hoped; instead, it must respond to a precise exemption request that follows legal protocols. These details create a significant regulatory firewall against hasty or politically motivated species elimination decisions, which makes it harder for Trump to proceed with his plans.