Trump Administration Cites Classified Security Concerns in Offshore Wind Freeze as Courts Let Some Projects Proceed
The Trump administration in December ordered a stop‑work suspension of five East Coast offshore wind projects—Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind—citing classified Defense Department reports and national‑security and military‑readiness concerns without disclosing details to developers. States, attorneys general and companies including Equinor, Ørsted and Dominion have sued, saying the pause is arbitrary, threatens projects far along in construction and risks billions in losses, and federal judges have issued preliminary injunctions allowing Revolution Wind and Empire Wind to resume while courts review the order. The moves come alongside White House efforts to curb NEPA reviews, prompting critics to say the administration’s actions reflect a broader political rollback of federal clean‑energy permitting.
📌 Key Facts
- On Dec. 22 the Interior Department and BOEM issued stop‑work orders pausing federal leases for five East Coast offshore wind projects — Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind — citing national‑security risks identified in new classified Defense Department reports; the administration publicly framed the pause as a national‑security and military‑readiness measure.
- Developers and state officials say they have not been given access to sufficient details from the classified reports to understand or mitigate the asserted risks and have filed multiple lawsuits (Equinor, Ørsted, Dominion Energy, New York AG Letitia James, and state attorneys general from Connecticut and Rhode Island), arguing the suspension is arbitrary, unlawful and politically motivated.
- Federal judges have temporarily blocked parts of the freeze: Senior Judge Royce Lamberth granted Ørsted a preliminary injunction allowing Revolution Wind to resume, and Judge Carl J. Nichols granted Equinor relief allowing Empire Wind to resume while courts review the administration’s order; judges faulted the government for failing to justify the broad suspension or explain why narrower measures wouldn’t address security concerns.
- Project status and near‑term risks: Revolution Wind is described as nearly 90% complete, weeks from first power, valued at roughly $5 billion, and faces delay costs exceeding $1.4 million per day with a specialized installation vessel contract window expiring in February; Empire Wind is about 60% complete (sited ~14 miles southeast of Long Island), intended to power >500,000 homes, and Equinor warned it faces 'likely termination' if offshore construction cannot resume by Jan. 16 because of tightly choreographed vessel schedules and financing risks; Sunrise Wind is about 45% complete and expected to power ~600,000 homes; Vineyard Wind was reported about 95% complete.
- The administration’s Dec. 22 actions followed a federal judge’s earlier vacatur of a Jan. 20, 2025 executive order that paused approvals for all wind projects, after which the administration issued targeted stop‑work orders on the East Coast projects.
- Separately, the White House Council on Environmental Quality finalized rules rescinding parts of NEPA implementation to speed permitting — a move the CEQ chair called an end to NEPA’s 'regulatory reign of terror' — and House GOP legislation seeks to codify similar NEPA limits; Democratic senators warned the administration’s suspension of major offshore projects undermines trust needed for bipartisan permitting reform.
- Industry and state reactions are sharply divided: industry groups and trade officials (e.g., National Ocean Industries Association president Erik Milito) warn opaque, last‑minute security claims against fully permitted projects will chill investment, while opponents urged the administration to appeal the rulings; Rhode Island’s attorney general and other state officials framed the court fights as defense of the rule of law against political interference.
- Observers note the freeze fits a broader pattern of the administration’s rollbacks of clean‑energy programs — including a separate federal ruling that the administration illegally canceled $7.6 billion in clean‑energy grants — and public rhetoric from the president and White House questioning the economic and environmental value of offshore wind.
📰 Source Timeline (11)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
January 21, 2026
10:00 AM
Trump administration claims offshore wind poses a threat. But it won't say how.
New information:
- Confirms Interior’s Dec. 22 stop‑work orders covered five projects — Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind — all far along in construction, with Vineyard Wind about 95% complete.
- Details that the orders are based on new classified Defense Department reports and that developers have not been given access to enough information to understand or mitigate the asserted national‑security risks.
- Adds Dominion Energy’s court allegation that the government’s unspecified security concerns are a 'pretext' for a 'purely political and irrational campaign against wind energy.'
- Quotes the White House saying U.S. industries 'cannot depend on the most expensive and unreliable form of energy,' underscoring an explicit ideological line against offshore wind.
- Provides broader industry reaction from National Ocean Industries Association president Erik Milito, who warns that opaque, last‑minute security claims against fully permitted projects are 'a big problem' that undermine confidence in investing in the U.S.
January 16, 2026
January 15, 2026
5:47 PM
Judge hands offshore wind another victory against Trump, clearing way for NY project
New information:
- U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, granted Empire Wind’s request to resume construction while he reviews the legality of the Trump administration’s order freezing five East Coast offshore wind projects.
- Judge Nichols faulted the government for failing to respond to key arguments in Empire Wind’s filings, including claims that the administration violated required procedures in issuing the suspension.
- Empire Wind is about 60% complete, designed to power more than 500,000 homes, and Equinor told the court the project faced collapse within days because of scarce specialized vessels and mounting financial losses.
- The ruling makes Empire Wind the second affected project to win in court this week, after Judge Royce Lamberth’s injunction allowing Ørsted’s nearly finished Revolution Wind to proceed.
- Opponents such as Protect Our Coast New Jersey urged the administration to immediately appeal and seek to halt all work on national-security grounds.
5:35 PM
Judge clears way for New York offshore wind project, handing industry another victory against Trump
New information:
- Confirms Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, ruled that construction on Equinor’s Empire Wind project may resume while he reviews the legality of the Trump administration’s order suspending construction.
- Notes Nichols faulted the government for failing to respond to key arguments in Empire Wind’s filings, including claims that the administration violated required procedures.
- Adds detail that Empire Wind is about 60% complete, intended to power more than 500,000 homes, and that Equinor warned the project could be killed within days due to limited access to specialized construction vessels and mounting financial losses.
- Recaps that this is the second such ruling in a week, after Senior Judge Royce Lamberth allowed Ørsted’s nearly complete Revolution Wind project to resume, and lists other frozen projects (Sunrise Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Vineyard Wind) and where their legal challenges stand.
- Includes reaction from offshore-wind opponents such as Protect Our Coast New Jersey, whose president urged the administration to appeal and seek to halt all work pending appellate review.
January 13, 2026
12:12 AM
Offshore wind developer prevails in U.S. court as Trump calls wind farms 'losers'
New information:
- Judge Royce Lamberth’s opinion explicitly says the government failed to explain why less‑than‑total measures couldn’t address its national‑security concerns and did not adequately justify reversing its prior position.
- Revolution Wind is described as nearly 90% complete and only weeks from first power, with the developer saying delay costs exceed $1.4 million per day and a specialized installation vessel’s contract window expiring in February.
- Trump publicly stated he has told his team 'we will not approve windmills' and called wind farms 'losers' that lose money, spoil landscapes and kill birds, tying the policy freeze to his broader opposition.
- The story notes a separate federal ruling that the Trump administration acted illegally in canceling $7.6 billion in clean‑energy grants for projects in states that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, framing a broader pattern of politically skewed clean‑energy rollbacks.
- Rhode Island and Connecticut joined Ørsted with their own court filing to save Revolution Wind, and Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha said the case shows the law must prevail over 'the political whims of one man.'
January 12, 2026
11:52 PM
Judge Rules Orsted Can Resume Work on Revolution Wind Project
New information:
- Confirms the relief is a preliminary injunction granted by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., specifically in response to Ørsted’s motion.
- Clarifies that the administration’s December action was a pause of federal leases for five East Coast wind projects, citing 'national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports.'
- Explicitly ties the Revolution Wind project’s value to about $5 billion and notes Ørsted can resume work 'for now,' indicating the injunction’s temporary nature.
10:27 PM
Judge allows Trump-halted offshore wind project to resume
New information:
- A federal judge has ruled that the Revolution Wind offshore wind project may resume work despite the Trump administration’s attempt to halt it on national-security or permitting grounds.
- The ruling specifically applies to Revolution Wind, a project separate from Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind that had also been targeted by the Trump administration’s offshore-wind freeze.
- The decision sets an early judicial marker that at least some elements of the administration’s pause on offshore wind development may not withstand legal scrutiny, potentially influencing other cases such as New York’s lawsuit over Sunrise and Empire.
January 10, 2026
3:09 AM
New York attorney general sues Trump administration over offshore wind project freeze
New information:
- New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed her own legal challenges in federal court in Washington, D.C., specifically targeting the Interior Department’s Dec. 22 order suspending the Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind projects off Long Island.
- James argues the suspension is arbitrary and unwarranted because the projects have already undergone more than a decade of security and safety reviews by federal, state and local authorities and asks the court to intervene.
- Empire Wind, located about 14 miles southeast of Long Island and developed by Equinor, is projected to power more than 500,000 homes and is about 60% complete; Sunrise Wind, about 30 miles east of Montauk and developed by Ørsted, is expected to power roughly 600,000 homes and is about 45% complete.
- The article notes that Interior and BOEM, both named defendants, declined comment citing pending litigation and reiterates Interior’s stated concern that moving turbine blades can create radar 'clutter' that obscures legitimate targets and generates false ones.
- It recalls that a federal judge in Massachusetts last month vacated Trump’s earlier Jan. 20, 2025 executive order pausing approvals for all wind projects, and that the administration issued the specific stop‑work order on the East Coast projects days after that defeat.
January 07, 2026
9:11 PM
White House finalizes plan to curb National Environmental Policy Act
New information:
- White House Council on Environmental Quality finalized a directive rescinding regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), described as curbing the law’s role in environmental review.
- CEQ chair Katherine Scarlett framed the move as ending NEPA’s 'regulatory reign of terror' and said it will 'slash needless layering of bureaucratic burden' and speed permitting.
- The article details a parallel House GOP bill that would codify NEPA limits by setting statutory review deadlines, expanding categories exempt from review, and restricting who can sue and what remedies courts can impose.
- Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich argue the administration’s recent suspension of five major offshore wind projects has undermined trust needed for bipartisan permitting reform.
8:21 PM
Trump's offshore wind project freeze hit with lawsuits from states and developers
New information:
- Equinor’s Empire Wind LLC tells the U.S. District Court for D.C. that its New York Empire Wind project faces 'likely termination' if offshore construction cannot resume by Jan. 16, citing a tightly choreographed vessel schedule and existential financing risk.
- Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind filing states the company has already spent 'billions of dollars' on the project in reliance on valid federal permits and says weekly 2025 meetings with the Coast Guard and other agencies never raised national‑security concerns.
- Interior Department spokesperson Matt Middleton publicly frames the 90‑day lease suspension as a national‑security and military‑readiness measure and says Trump has directed Interior to manage public lands and waters for multiple uses, including national defense.
- Connecticut and Rhode Island jointly seek a preliminary injunction to allow construction on the Revolution Wind project to continue, arguing each day of delay costs 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' in higher energy bills for residents.
- The article consolidates that, in addition to Equinor and Ørsted suits, Dominion Energy Virginia has already sued over the freeze on its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, calling the order 'arbitrary and capricious' and unconstitutional.