Executive Overreach Exposed: CEQ’s Authority Comes Crashing Down

February 5, 2025

This week, a federal judge in North Dakota ruled that the federal Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has been exercising regulatory authority it does not have. Congress established the CEQ in 1969 as an advisory body, but in the late 1970s, President Jimmy Carter issued an executive order directing the agency to implement the National Environmental Policy Act. U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor concluded in an order that the council was created to serve as an advisory body and cannot issue rules. 

The North Dakota Monitor reports, 

“The law requires agencies to conduct environmental reviews of certain federal projects. By and large, federal courts did not question the council’s regulatory authority until late last year, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a curveball decision found that the agency has no power to make rules. Traynor on Monday agreed with the circuit court. “The truth is that for the past 40 years all three branches of government operated under the erroneous assumption that CEQ had authority,” he wrote. “But now everyone knows the state of the emperor’s clothing and it is something we cannot unsee.”’

As part of his plan to unleash American energy, President Trump issued an executive order withdrawing the CEQ’s rulemaking authority.

“The ruling also follows a January executive order by President Donald Trump rescinding the council’s rulemaking authority and directing the council to roll back its regulations. Traynor’s order came as part of a lawsuit filed against the council by 21 Republican-led states, including North Dakota, who argued the 2024 rule introduced onerous and unnecessary requirements that would hurt important infrastructure projects. The states also claimed the rules unlawfully over-emphasized climate change and environmental justice in the environmental review process.”

Judge Traynor’s ruling highlights the critical need to rein in bureaucracy. For too long, administrative agencies have acted beyond their intended roles, pushing regulations that influence the lives of everyday Americans without the proper democratic process.