Supreme Court Restores Trump-Era Water Rule

Kagan, Roberts, Sotomayor, and Breyer dissent, faulting use of emergency docket

President Donald Trump greets Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch after the State of the Union Address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on Feb. 5, 2019. Alex Wong/Getty Images

In a 5–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a district court’s decision to strike down the Trump-era Section 401 Certification Rule for the Clean Water Act, thereby reinstating it.

The decision granted an emergency stay, responding to an application filed on March 21 by a group of states and energy industry associations against an October decision from the Northern District of California.