Environmental enforcement cases under President Donald Trump’s second term have dropped to record lows — falling far below the Justice Department’s efforts during the president’s first four years in office, according to a new analysis of court records.
In the 11 months since Trump took office, DOJ’s Environmental Enforcement Section has filed just 20 cases and imposed only $15.1 million in civil penalties against polluters, down from $590 million in fines issued in the 19 days of 2025 before the president’s second inauguration, said Laura Thoms, director of enforcement at Earthjustice.
Last year, DOJ brought in $1.88 billion in civil environmental penalties and has historically averaged hundreds of millions of dollars in fines annually against companies that contaminate the nation’s air and water and contribute to climate change, the analysis shows.
“This isn’t a dip. It’s a collapse,” wrote Thoms, who joined Earthjustice this summer after serving as a career attorney in DOJ’s environment division since 2006, in a blog post breaking down the analysis. “And it matters for our lives, our health, and our economy.”
