The God Squad
A matter of life and death for imperiled wildlife.
There are fewer than 100 Rice's whales left in the world. In March 2026, a committee of federal officials voted to strip away the protections standing between them and extinction — for an entire oil and gas industry, across the entire Gulf of Mexico, in a single meeting that lasted under 20 minutes.
What is the God Squad?
The Endangered Species Committee, aka the “God Squad,” is entrusted with the power to decide whether a federal action is so important that it clearly outweighs the survival and recovery of the species at issue and merits an ESA exemption. This absolute power over a species’ survival or extinction earned it the “God Squad” moniker.
That power was used almost never. Between 1978, when Congress created the committee, and 2025, it convened three times. That makes sense, as the Endangered Species Act is America’s most effective wildlife conservation law. It has saved 99% of listed species from extinction and enjoys widespread bipartisan support among the American public.
Who sits on the God Squad
- Secretary of the Interior (Chair)
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Secretary of the Army
- Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
- Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
A seventh member designated by the president, drawn from an affected state or chosen for relevant expertise.
The God Squad's Unprecedented March 2026 Decision
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called a snap meeting of the committee at the request of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth determined that, for “reasons of national security,” all federally authorized oil and gas activities in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico should be exempted from the ESA’s requirements.
The procedures for building a public record were not followed.
On March 31, the committee granted the exemption. It is the first time in the history of the God Squad that a blanket exemption has been granted for an entire federal program, and the first ever sought on national security grounds. Dozens of threatened and endangered species lost essential protections, including critically endangered Rice's whales, Florida manatees, five species of sea turtles and more.