A U. S. District Judge in North Dakota granted a stay against the proposed Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule.  According to Judge Daniel Hovland, 24 states have “persuasively shown that the new 2023 Rule poses a threat to their sovereign rights and amounts to irreparable harm”.  The injunction applying to 24 states adds to a previous court decision invalidating the Rule in Texas and Idaho.

The question of WOTUS is under review by SCOTUS in Sackett v. EPA with a ruling expected in June. 

A Resolution to set aside the Rule was passed with four democratic and one independent members of the Senate voting with their Republican counterparts.  The House voted in March by a majority of 227 to 198 to suspend the Rule with nine Democrats joining the Republican majority.The President thereupon vetoed the Senate Resolution to overturn the Rule. There were insufficient votes to overturn the veto of the resolution.