Federal ‘God squad’ exempts oil and gas drilling in the Gulf from endangered species rules

A U.S. government panel on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said environmentalists’ lawsuits against the industry threatened to hobble the nation’s energy supply.

Critics said the move by the Endangered Species Committee — which had not convened in more than three decades — could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life.

Nicknamed the “God Squad” by groups who say it can decide a species’ fate...