Federal Regulation
On March 27, 2025, as expected, the SEC under the Trump administration abandoned the climate disclosure rule promulgated by the Biden administration, specifically stating in a court filing that it would no longer defend the climate disclosure rule. This decision was widely anticipated, and constitutes another example of the Trump administration’s efforts to target and rollback the Biden administration’s environmental policies. Despite the fact that the SEC is no longer defending the climate disclosure rule, there still remains a (low) chance that the rule could become operative, even if the Trump administration SEC is unlikely to engage in enforcement actions pursuant to this rule. Specifically, there has been criticism leveled at the SEC that this act—failing to defend the climate disclosure rule in court—is procedurally defective as the SEC should have engaged in a notice and comment period concerning the repeal of the climate disclosure rule pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. Further, a number of states have intervened to protect the rule (a number of states have also challenged the climate disclosure rule), and so these states can advance arguments in support of the climate disclosure rule at the court. Nonetheless, these alternative mechanisms to sustain the climate disclosure rule do not advance any additional legal arguments that could protect the rule against the currently pending cases challenging its enactment and implementation.
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