October 6, 2025 — A federal judge denied the Trump administration’s bid to pause Ocean City’s lawsuit over offshore wind power due to the federal government shutdown.
Before the government shutdown, Judge Stephanie Gallagher was expected to issue a ruling that would either allow U.S. Wind to move forward or give the U.S. Department of the Interior the ability to pull back its approval. In August, the Department of the Interior, speaking for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, joined Ocean City in asking the court to send the case back and vacate the prior approval.
The government’s Thursday filing asked the court to pause the case because the Department of Justice’s attorneys are “prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, with few exceptions” since the shutdown began on Wednesday.