WASHINGTON, D.C., July 24, 2026 — Today, Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1 and Mike Quigley (D-IL-5), ), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, introduced the Safeguarding Endangered Species Act, bipartisan legislation to nullify the Administration’s recently finalized rule weakening the Endangered Species Act’s protections against destructive habitat loss.
For more than five decades, the Endangered Species Act has prohibited the unlawful “take” of threatened and endangered wildlife. Since 1975, federal regulations have recognized that “harm” can include significant habitat destruction or degradation that actually kills or injures wildlife by disrupting essential activities such as breeding, feeding, and sheltering.
The Administration’s final rule rescinds that definition, narrowing how “harm” will be interpreted and weakening the law’s ability to address habitat destruction that results in the actual injury or death of threatened and endangered wildlife.
The Fitzpatrick-Quigley legislation would nullify the rule and preserve the longstanding, science-based principle that protecting an imperiled species requires protecting the habitat essential to its survival and recovery.
“Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act to prevent extinction—not to document it after the damage has already been done,” said Fitzpatrick. “For more than fifty years, our nation’s protections have reflected a basic legal, scientific, and commonsense truth: when habitat destruction actually kills or injures protected wildlife, that destruction is harm. The Administration’s rule would erase that longstanding safeguard through regulatory action and leave vulnerable species exposed at the precise moment the law is intended to protect them.”
“As Co-Chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, I am leading this bipartisan effort to stop that rollback and draw a clear line: no Administration—Republican or Democratic—should be permitted to hollow out a landmark law enacted by Congress,” Fitzpatrick continued. “We must, and will, act to preserve the full force of the Endangered Species Act, protect the habitats wildlife need to survive, and uphold our responsibility to the generations that will inherit America’s natural legacy.”
“I’m proud to join Congressman Fitzpatrick in leading the bipartisan Safeguarding Endangered Species Act. This essential legislation will reverse the Trump administration’s recent rule eliminating habitat protections outlined in the 1975 Endangered Species Act,” said Quigley. “As Co-Chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, I’m honored to continue fighting for our wildlife and the endangered species around us.”
Support for the Legislation
“We cannot effectively protect vulnerable species without considering one of the top reasons these animals are disappearing—habitat degradation. Yet that is the reality of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s attempt to abandon a definition of ‘harm’ that has stood for decades. In a time of increasing biodiversity loss, we should not be intentionally weakening our strongest tool to combat this growing crisis. We urge Congress to pass this bill ensuring safeguards remain in place for wildlife and their habitats,” said Sara Amundson, President, Humane World Action Fund.
“There’s no way around it: Taking away an animal’s home or source of food is causing harm. Habitat loss and degradation are the top threats to wildlife,” said Stephanie Wein, Clean Water & Conservation Advocate for PennEnvironment. “Preventing the Endangered Species Act from protecting a species’ habitat eliminates our most valuable tool to conserve America’s wildlife for generations to come. That betrays the entire reason for having an Endangered Species Act.”
“The attempt to strip habitat destruction from the Endangered Species Act’s definition of ‘harm’ is one of the most reckless rollbacks of wildlife protections in decades,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director, Endangered Species Coalition. “We are grateful to Representatives Fitzpatrick and Quigley for introducing a life-saving correction that restores the law’s longstanding safeguards. When nesting beaches disappear, sea turtles are harmed. When rivers are degraded, sturgeon are harmed. When habitat is destroyed, species like Monarch butterflies, manatees, and countless others are harmed. This bill recognizes that reality and puts endangered species protections back on solid scientific footing.”
“Defenders of Wildlife applauds this quick action by Reps. Fitzpatrick and Quigley to reverse this blatant attack on our nation’s cherished wildlife by the Trump administration,” said Mary Beth Beetham, Director of Legislative Affairs, Defenders of Wildlife. “This important legislation to overturn the administration’s elimination of habitat protections under the Endangered Species Act rightly recognizes that, to save imperiled wildlife and address the extinction crisis, we must protect the places where they live.”
“To protect at-risk wildlife, you must protect their homes,” said Oceana Campaign Manager Julia Singer. “Following the Trump administration’s attempt to fast-track extinctions by removing protections for habitat that endangered species need to survive, this bill would reverse this horrendous habitat decision. The Endangered Species Act is one of the nation’s most effective conservation laws, saving 99% of species under its care. Oceana applauds Representative Fitzpatrick and Representative Quigley for their bipartisan leadership in upholding and defending this landmark law and urges other members of Congress to follow suit.”
“Save the Manatee Club strongly supports this important bill. Imperiled manatees’ greatest long-term threat is habitat loss, particularly loss of warm-water and seagrass habitats that manatees require to survive. Restoring the 40-year-old regulatory definition of ‘harm’ will ensure that unwarranted and unsustainable habitat destruction will remain prohibited by the Endangered Species Act, consistent with the letter of the law and the drafters’ original intent,” said Patrick Rose, Aquatic Biologist and Certified Public Manager, Executive Director, Save the Manatee Club.