Trump-era water rule reinstated
Conservatives on the Supreme Court Wednesday reinstated for now a Trump-era environmental rule that limited the ability of states to block projects that could pollute rivers and streams, a decision more notable because Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined liberals in calling it an abuse of the court’s emergency powers.
The five members of the court who granted the request from several states and the energy industry did not explain their reasoning, which is common in emergency requests.
Justice Elena Kagan, in the dissent, said her conservative colleagues misused the procedure. “The [emergency] docket becomes only another place for merits determinations – except made without full briefing and argument.”