OCEAN CITY, Md. - WBOC has learned the Trump Administration on Thursday filed a motion to stay an ongoing lawsuit against them and offshore energy company US Wind, arguing the current government shutdown has limited their attorneys’ ability to respond to the suit.
According to court documents obtained by WBOC, the motion to stay the case was filed by the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office on Oct. 2. It was the latest legal move in an ongoing case challenging US Wind’s proposed 114-turbine windfarm off the coast of Delmarva. The suit was filed nearly one year ago by Ocean City officials, residents, and numerous other plaintiffs including Fenwick Island.
Under the Biden Administration, when the suit was first filed, US Wind and the federal government appeared poised to fight Ocean City’s challenge to the project in lockstep. That coordination between the company and the government took a drastic turn with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, however, who has repeatedly voiced his disapproval of offshore wind projects.
As WBOC first reported, the Trump administration officially submitted a legal request to vacate and remand the previous administration’s approval of the Maryland offshore wind project in September. U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher has yet to issue a decision on that request. A phone conference between the lawsuit’s parties and a status report on the ongoing litigation was scheduled for Oct. 7.
At midnight on Oct. 1, the federal government officially shut down for the first time in almost seven years amid a funding bill standoff in the Senate, freezing funding for numerous government departments. It is currently unclear how long that shutdown could last.
The next day, on Oct. 2, the U.S. DOJ filed a motion to stay the offshore wind lawsuit until the shutdown had been lifted.
Federal attorneys argued that, during the shutdown, “Department of Justice attorneys for the Federal Defendants are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, with few exceptions, including ‘emergencies involving the safety of human life or protection of property,’” according to the court filing obtained by WBOC.
The Trump Administration goes on to ask the judge to also delay the upcoming status conference on Oct. 7 until funding has been restored to the DOJ.
“Therefore, although we greatly regret any disruption caused to the Court and the other litigants, the Government hereby moves for a stay of this case until Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions,” the DOJ’s filing reads.
US Wind swiftly filed its opposition to their federal co-defendants’ motion to stay the case on Thursday.
“While US Wind appreciates the exigent circumstances in which the Government finds itself in due to the recent and ongoing lapse in appropriations, the Motion arrives in the midst of a different set of exigent circumstances that are unique to this litigation and that have been created by the Government itself,” US Wind’s response reads.
US Wind argues that the federal government has hinted at revoking the Maryland offshore project’s approval regardless of the judge’s decision on their motion to remand and vacate the previous approval. The company goes on to say that the government shutdown does not prevent the Trump Administration from undermining the project’s approval outside of the judicial system and warns that the government could take advantage of a delay and undermine the court’s ability to weigh in on the project’s approval first.
“A stay would be inappropriate at this juncture, considering the imminent and existential risks that US Wind faces given the Government’s abandonment of its defense of the Project; and the high likelihood that the Government will independently act on its decision to revoke its COP approval without allowing this Court an opportunity to timely consider the various motions discussed during the September 18, 2025 status conference,” US Wind’s opposition reads.
US Wind’s attorneys go on to argue that the Trump Administration is incorrect in saying their attorneys cannot work during the government shutdown, citing the DOJ’s own policies updated on Sept. 29 should a shutdown occur.
Just before 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, Judge Stephanie Gallagher issued her denial of the Trump Administration’s motion to stay the case, quashing the possibility of the lawsuit’s pause during the government shutdown or a delay of Tuesday’s scheduled status hearing.
“The Court will consider the parties’ positions at the October 7, 2025 status conference,” Gallagher’s order reads.
WBOC will continue to provide the latest updates on the ongoing litigation over US Wind’s proposed project off the shores of Delmarva.