Even in this age of Trump where executive orders are shot out of the White House as if it were a malfunctioning ball machine on meth, reality has a way of pressing the pause button. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the travel ban suspension in a unanimous decision, and funds to build the multi-billion dollar border wall aren’t exactly sitting in Peña Nieto’s wire transfer queue.

Noah Perch-Ahern, an Environmental & Energy Practice Group partner at Glaser Weil (now with Greenberg Glusker LLP) who regularly represents oil and gas companies, sees a “close call” on the NEPA claim.

The first step “will be to identify the proper standard of review” regarding the Corps’ decision. While the review standard is typically deferential, Mr. Perch-Ahern believes that may not be the case here “given the quick departure from the previous administration’s decision.” He notes that the “record will support an argument” by the tribes that the Corps’ February 8 decision was “a product of political whim, not reasoned judgment” and that “Trump’s capriciousness concerning some of his executive actions … could subtly influence the ultimate decision.”

And Trump’s now infamous “so-called judge” tweet has not exactly endeared him to members of the judiciary.

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