President Donald Trump's administration has asked courts to pause multiple cases involving biofuel policy because the government shutdown has sidelined federal workers involved in the disputes.
The US government shut down Wednesday after talks between Trump and Democratic lawmakers over a longer-term funding deal collapsed, forcing agencies to furlough hundreds of thousands of workers. The upheaval also means that government lawyers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff cannot work even voluntarily on various non-emergency court cases, the Department of Justice told federal courts this afternoon.
A similar filing made in multiple cases noted that federal officials "greatly regret any disruption" but request "a stay of all deadlines in this case until Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions".
That means the administration not only wants more time for legal filings due over the course of any government shutdown, but also lengthier briefing schedules into the future to account for days over the shutdown where government officials were unable to work.
Requests were made in cases involving groups challenging EPA's decision to trim last year's cellulosic biofuel mandate and small refineries wanting the agency to reconsider denying them exemptions from federal biofuel blend quotas.
Parties in the cellulosic case consented to a delay, but the government shutdown does not guarantee courts will grant EPA's requests in other cases. The US filed similar requests to halt litigation during the 2018-2019 government shutdown, though the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit bucked the government's request then to delay hearings about biofuel mandates.
EPA administers the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires oil refiners and importers to annually blend different types of biofuels or buy credits from those that do. The shutdown has raised fears among oil and biofuel groups of prolonged delays before the agency can finalize new biofuel quotas for next year and beyond. Farm groups in particular, burned by Trump's trade wars cutting off export markets for US crops, see strong and speedy biofuel mandates as crucial for supporting the farm economy.
EPA said in a court filing last month — before the government shutdown — that it expected to finalize biofuel program updates "this winter 2025-2026".
The US federal court system said in a Wednesday statement that "most proceedings and deadlines will occur as scheduled" but that "hearing and filing dates may be rescheduled" if government attorneys are unavailable because of the shutdown. The DC Circuit, where most major litigation over the biofuel program proceeds, said it would "continue normal operations in the event of a shutdown".
In one DC Circuit case, lawyers for an 80,000 b/d Delek refinery in Louisiana deemed ineligible for a waiver from 2024 biofuel mandates pushed back Wednesday on EPA's request for delay.
EPA's current policy is to return renewable fuel credits to refiners that complied with past mandates but are given retroactive exemptions — but delays in the case could mean that any credits eventually returned to Delek would be expired, the lawyers argued.
"Pressing forward will cause no harm to EPA or its counsel, whereas delay could cost petitioner upwards of $50,000,000", the refinery lawyers argued.
