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For the second time in under four months, a federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to halt the under-construction Revolution Wind project, ordering that it can resume construction while the latest suspension is temporarily stayed and enjoined.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth for the District of Columbia said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has failed to explain why construction cannot continue while it evaluates national security concerns. He ruled from the bench after taking a 35-minute recess from the hearing arguments, which lasted about an hour.
In a news release announcing the suspensions last month, the Interior Department said it was due to “national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports.” The release asserted that radar interference created by wind arrays is a national security threat.
Lamberth reviewed classified materials provided by the federal government. Still, he granted Revolution Wind’s motion to halt the suspension, which BOEM said would last 90 days with the option to extend.
“Revolution Wind agreed at every stage of the approval process to work with the government to mitigate national security concerns,” Lamberth said. “I can see no reason why the project will not continue to do so even when construction is complete.”
Last fall, Lamberth called the first stop-work order, which also cited national security concerns, the “height of arbitrary and capricious.” This time, he said the federal government did provide a reason, but failed to explain it, suggesting the stated reason “may be pretextual.”
He said what has heightened his concern of this is Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s recent remarks in the news, in which Burgum criticized offshore wind for reasons unrelated to national security.
This is the first offshore wind project to get relief after the Trump administration suspended five under-construction projects just days before Christmas, citing new national security concerns from a classified report. The other projects are Vineyard Wind, Empire Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. All but Vineyard Wind have sued the federal government over the suspensions.
The preliminary injunction halts the suspension while the case plays out, and may save the project from near death.
The project in filings this month said it was at serious risk of cancellation if it did not get an injunction by Monday. With seven turbines left to install, its contract with its turbine installation vessel expires late next month. Such vessels number only few internationally, and are high in demand.
Amid the stronger winds and rougher seas in the winter months, installation of a single turbine out of the New London, Connecticut, marshalling port can take more than five days, leaving little breathing room. To be precise, the project has 41 days left with the vessel, which equates to fewer than six days per turbine.
Revolution Wind in a statement Monday said the project will restart construction as soon as possible “with safety as the top priority.”
“Revolution Wind will determine how best it may be possible to work with the US Administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution,” the statement said.
A preliminary injunction must meet four conditions, including that the plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of their argument and suffer irreparable harm without relief, and that an injunction would be in the public interest.
The federal government has not shared the classified material with Revolution Wind despite attempts from the developer’s in-house experts, some of whom previously worked in the federal government with security clearances, per court filings.
Of note, the federal government in its opposition motion last week said that the operations of the wind farm is the primary concern, and that “any potential mitigation measures may be more effectively incorporated into the Revolution Wind Project before construction is completed.”
Federal officials in their declarations cite concerns over radar interference, among other impacts, caused by wind turbine rotation (i.e. operational turbines).
“BOEM concluded those national security risks ‘arise from the operation of’ the Revolution Wind Project, and it sought to prevent those risks from occurring,” Department of Justice attorneys wrote on Jan. 8. “Given these national security risks, the Court should maintain the Suspension Order with respect to at least project operations.”
Jacob Tyner, deputy assistant secretary of Land and Minerals Management in the Interior Department, in a court filing last week said, “To date, BOEM is not aware of measures that would mitigate the national security risks of the Revolution Wind Project once it becomes operational.”
It raises the question of why Vineyard Wind is allowed to continue operating, particularly when the Interior official said BOEM is not aware of mitigation options for Revolution Wind.
Vineyard Wind sits about 12 miles southwest of Revolution Wind, but both are situated at similar distances from shore. The projects use different suppliers, but both have wind turbine generators with blades that span the length of football fields and stand hundreds of feet above the Atlantic Ocean.
Additionally, tucked into the Revolution Wind lease is the fully operational 12-turbine wind farm, South Fork Wind. Both projects are developed by Orsted. Its turbines have been spinning since late 2023, and it was not ordered by the federal government to cease operations.
An Interior Department spokesperson said it does not comment on matters under litigation. A BOEM spokesperson did not provide an explanation on its rationale as it relates to the operations of Vineyard Wind, South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind and national security concerns before publication.
Offshore wind project status
Revolution Wind has an agreement with the Defense Department and Air Force, signed in late 2024, to mitigate “potential adverse effects on military operations and readiness, including to protect military radar systems.” This includes Revolution Wind providing funds for radar system upgrades, and an agreement to immediately halt turbine operations upon request from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, better known as NORAD.
The Defense Department’s clearinghouse, which evaluates potential impacts from alternative energy projects and potential mitigation options, concluded that construction of the project “would not have adverse impacts to DOD missions in the area,” per Revolution Wind filings.
Revolution Wind in court Monday also accused BOEM of stonewalling, and asked why the federal government did not act sooner if the national security threats were exigent.
BOEM Deputy Director Matthew Giacona first reviewed the new classified material on Nov. 26, 2025, per an affidavit he filed in a lawsuit brought by Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
“They sat on the information” for weeks before issuing the “sweeping order,” Janice Schneider, attorney for Revolution Wind, told Lamberth Monday.
Schneider said company officials, who meet routinely with federal agency representatives, were not informed of any concerns before November 2025, or between Giacona’s review of the classified materials and the Dec. 22, 2025, suspension order.
Citing these dates in his ruling, Lamberth said “I’m not persuaded any such emergency exists in this case, nor have I been provided any evidence” or new finding of “particularized harm.”
Schneider had asked Lamberth to be skeptical of the federal government’s motives, also citing remarks by Interior Secretary Burgum, as well as President Donald Trump. On Jan. 9, Trump told oil executives at a meeting, “My goal is to not let any windmill be built.”
Schneider said the Trump administration has been trying to shut down offshore wind by citing reasons not related to national security.
Peter Torstensen Jr., attorney for the Department of Justice, put forth a much briefer argument before the judge, saying national security interests outweigh potential public benefits or irreparable harm.
Lamberth said he does not see harm in allowing Revolution Wind to continue construction.
Torstensen replied that if construction is finished before mitigation measures are identified, then the opportunity for the developer to work with BOEM to determine “if measures are available” is lost. He added the agency doesn’t know “if there are any” currently.
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A long silence followed before Lamberth responded: “I don’t understand that reason.”
Torstensen replied that the federal government does not want to have Revolution Wind devote more resources if “it turns out that nothing can be done” to mitigate national security interests.
Another long silence followed, with the federal government ending its argument before the court.
Schneider, in her rebuttal, said Orsted has implemented “tried and tested” solutions that can be employed to mitigate interference with military defense readiness and national security at several stages of project development, including construction and operations.
Acknowledging she and Orsted do not have access to the classified report, Schneider said solutions exist based on the information to which they do have access.
Before the second suspension order, Revolution Wind was set to start sending power to the New England grid by Jan. 15. At full operation, it has agreements to send power to Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Since Dec. 22, 2025, the project has incurred more than an estimated $30 million in losses (about $1.44 million per day that the project is paused), according to attorneys.
On Wednesday, New York’s Empire Wind is scheduled to argue before a different federal judge in the District of Columbia court that they, too, should grant a preliminary injunction for the suspension. In filings, Empire Wind has listed similar points, including threats of losing vessel contracts that could ultimately kill the project.
The federal government may appeal Lamberth’s ruling. It did not appeal his September 2025 preliminary injunction.
Interior Department and BOEM did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the hearing.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
Let the project proceed
Please
Why do you post anonymously?
I listened to the entire sad-excuse for a hearing as it played out. Two things were clear:
1. Judge Lamberth, the same judge who overturned Revolution’s first halt work order, had already decided to overturn this suspension prior to the hearing.
2. BOEM and DOJ did not want to win this case. DOJ attorney Peter Torstensen, Jr. (yes, the same very junior attorney as last time) was ill-prepared, mumbled-mouthed, incompetent. The effects of dense fields of football field length spinning blades on radar and the effects of extra high-voltage electromagnetic corridors on sonar are real. Torstensen did not even try to present a convincing case. The question is why are DOJ and BOEM self-sabotaging?
Nantucket, Massachusetts – ACK for Whales on Friday, January 9, 2026, filed a new lawsuit against the federal government for violating the Offshore Continental Shelf Land Act (OCSLA) in the permitting of Vineyard Wind.
These companies are not banking on a hail mary from another far left liberal judge when they know like all the previous rulings they just end up going to another court and are shot down.
Wind is moving forward throughout the country, and the world.
See Ruby Red Texas.
China’s wind power production has seen massive, consistent growth, reaching 964 TWh in 2023 (a 16.2% rise) and around 989 TWh in 2024.
Wind now produces more electricity than filthy coal.
Right?