Judge rules Trump overstepped his legal authority in effort to keep coal plant open
- A federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration overstepped its legal authority by using emergency powers to keep a Michigan coal plant operational past its retirement date.
- The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found that no legitimate emergency existed under federal law to keep the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell Generating Plant open.
- The legal challenge was brought by environmental advocacy groups alongside the states of Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota.
- Keeping the Michigan facility open past its planned retirement has accumulated roughly $259 million in costs that critics say will burden local ratepayers.
- The decision marks a significant legal defeat for the Trump administration’s broader effort to use emergency directives to halt coal plant closures nationwide.
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