A federal judge sharply questioned Wednesday the legal arguments defending the Trump administration’s move to halt construction of a wind project off the coast of New York, saying he would make a decision “very, very quickly.”
The developer of Empire Wind 1 has said it is in a perilous situation that could spell the end for the multibillion-dollar wind farm if it cannot resume work by Friday. It has requested a preliminary injunction to allow construction to continue after receiving a stop-work order from the Trump administration last month.
Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said at the close of a hearing Wednesday that he had “no interest in unduly delaying my decision here” — while also saying he had factors of the case to consider further. Nichols, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, said a ruling would come soon and be communicated to the parties by phone or in writing.
While he did not say how he planned to rule, the judge grilled a government attorney over legal briefs and asked why the government’s alleged national security harms would come to pass merely from the project’s construction.
