Marine Minerals Administration Director Mike Olsen stated that the Marine Minerals Administration must balance national security goals with environmental stewardship and engagement with American Samoa leadership

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Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem invoked a 1996 federal immigration law to waive environmental protection and historical preservation compliance for physical border barrier construction in the Big Bend Sector

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a preliminary injunction blocking border wall construction in the Big Bend Sector, ruling that Homeland Security secretaries Kristi Noem and Markwayne Mullin exceeded their legal authority in issuing environmental-law waivers

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, appointed after Kristi Noem's dismissal earlier in 2026, issued two additional legal waivers beyond Kristi Noem's earlier waiver permitting Customs and Border Protection to build barrier systems in Texas's Big Bend Sector

Governor Abigail Spanberger also demanded protections against customer disconnections and increased clean energy investments as conditions for supporting the NextEra-Dominion merger.

The Constitution Pipeline received federal approval in 2014, but New York regulators denied a required water-quality certification in 2016, leading developers to abandon the project in 2020

The November 19, 2026 lease auction marks the first time the United States government has offered offshore leases for deep-sea seabed mining

Acting Marine Minerals Administration Director Mike Olsen stated that critical minerals represent vital strategic assets necessary for domestic supply chains, national defense, and energy efficiency goals

On October 19, 2026, the Marine Minerals Administration announced a November 19, 2026 lease sale offering nearly 32 million acres across two offshore areas near American Samoa for deep-sea mining

Lawsuits and opposition statements filed by environmental advocates argue that commercial deep-sea mining off American Samoa will pollute local ocean waters, destroy benthic habitats, and harm island communities

Oceana Defense Campaign Manager Julia Singer warned that the November 19 deep-sea mining lease sale off American Samoa opens ocean habitats to exploitation while ignoring opposition from scientists and local Pacific leaders

The ocean lease tracts off American Samoa offered in the November 19, 2026 auction target potato-sized polymetallic nodules on the seafloor that contain critical minerals including cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, and nickel

Winning auction bidders in the November 19, 2026 lease sale off American Samoa will receive rights to conduct preliminary activities like mapping, but will not automatically gain permission to start commercial mining operations

Environmental groups Faʻasao Amerika Samoa and Conservation Council for Hawaii, represented by Earthjustice, filed an August 2026 lawsuit in Hawaii federal court challenging BOEM's plan for an ocean mining lease sale off American Samoa

Arizona officials warned the federal government that further reductions in Lake Mead's water levels could trigger a lawsuit over Colorado River Compact violations.

An Interior Department spokesperson rejected Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs's position as wrong and asserted that the department would operate in good faith.

The federal government intervened to impose water restrictions after seven Colorado River Basin states missed multiple deadlines to reach a consensus.

Democrat Clayton Tucker pledged to mandate resource impact studies forcing Texas data center operators to disclose water and power usage.

The Treasury Department established the Investment Security Technology Initiative to monitor pre-commercialized emerging technologies in universities and corporate research and development.

The Investment Security Technology Initiative focuses on anticipating national security risks in sectors including quantum computing, supercomputing, hypersonics, and biotechnology.

The co-owners of Arm Rippin Toys, Inc. pleaded guilty in 2022 to federal charges of conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act by removing pollution control equipment and tampering with monitoring devices