Court Deals Trump Humiliating Blow Over ‘Emergency’

Evelyn Hockstein / REUTERS President Donald Trump’s crusade to prop up the coal industry was dealt a serious blow Friday when a trio of judges ruled against his efforts to keep a coal-burning plant operating.

A Michigan utility had planned to shut down the J.H.

Campbell power plant in May 2025, but just days before it was supposed to be shut down permanently, Energy Secretary Chris Wright stepped in.

He used an emergency federal power to order that the plant remain open, despite the utility having deemed it to be at the end of its lifespan.

The U.S.

Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that Wright had failed to show that federal intervention over state authority was warranted.

The decision , written by Judge Cornelia Pillard, and joined by Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Robert Wilkins, all Obama appointees, said the Department of Energy’s “sweeping conception” of its “emergency” authority had failed to persuade them.

Judge Pillard outlined that the plant had gone through a long and exhaustive planning process for its closure, with contingencies made to replace the energy generation lost with more efficient, cleaner, cheaper energy supplies.

But at the last minute, the Department of Energy overruled the utility.

“The Department invoked a rarely used, short-term, federal emergency authority conferred in section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to order the Campbell coal unit to stay open,” the decision stated.

She wrote that “the circumstances DOE identified in the challenged order do not warrant resort to section 202(c) as 7 correctly interpreted” and the court overturned the order.

The ruling is a big win for Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and a swathe of environmental groups who had all opposed the emergency order.

It is also the first case of what could be many.

There are currently three other petitions before the D.C.