On Monday, an executive order issued by President Donald Trump reversed the Biden Administration’s blanket ban on new applications for liquified natural gas (LNG) export projects. The Liberty Justice Center, which filed a lawsuit to challenge the ban in May of 2024, praised the ban’s reversal as a victory against government overreach.
“We are thrilled to see the reversal of this unconstitutional ban,” said Loren Seehase, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “It was enacted in reckless disregard for the separation of powers and the rule of law—threatening not only our system of government but also a key industry for the American economy.”
The Biden Administration enacted the ban in January of 2024, violating the separation of powers and abandoning over 80 years of precedent by immediately and indefinitely halting the approval of LNG export licenses. The ban came mere months after the Biden Administration rejected a petition to halt the approval process, stating that the Department of Energy would have “no factual or legal basis” to enact such a ban.
On May 16, the Liberty Justice Center and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy jointly filed a lawsuit to challenge the ban on behalf of the Oil & Gas Workers Association, a nonprofit trade association whose 46,000 members’ careers and livelihoods rely on the LNG export industry. The lawsuit argued that the ban contravened the Natural Gas Act’s mandate, violated the separation of powers, and exceeded the executive branch’s designated authority.
Monday’s executive order lifted the ban’s freeze on the authorization of new and pending LNG export applications, directing the Secretary of Energy to resume reviewing and authorizing applications “as expeditiously as possible.” The order also emphasized the economic, employment, and national security benefits of granting applications.
The Department of Justice filed a motion to stay the legal challenges on December 12, in anticipation of the incoming administration’s intent to overturn the ban. Now that the ban has been officially lifted, lawsuits challenging it have become moot, and the courts will begin the process of formally closing the cases.
The Liberty Justice Center continues to fight government overreach at the local, state, and federal level, standing up in court at no cost to its clients or taxpayers to challenge abuses of power and violations of Americans’ rights.
The Liberty Justice Center and Pelican Institute’s legal filings in Oil & Gas Workers Association v. Biden are available here.