The federal government filed a motion requesting that the court stay the cases through April 1. The government said that the stop work order had been issued “to facilitate review of any potential mitigation measures to address then-new information from the Department of War that implicates national security concerns,” that the stop work order would expire on March 22, and that the end of the review “may result in a further decision from BOEM.” The government argued that despite uncertainty regarding the timing of future BOEM action, proceeding with litigation would potentially waste the court’s and the parties’ resources.. New York, NYSERDA, and the Empire Wind Project developers opposed the stay. Both the New York State plaintiffs and the developers argued that a stay would result in continued commercial uncertainty that would threaten the project.

Lawsuit brought by the developers of Empire Wind Project offshore Brooklyn challenging a December 2025 federal stop-work order.

Empire Leaseholder LLC v. Burgum

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Federal Government Sought to Stay Proceedings After Court Enjoined Order Suspending Work on Offshore Wind Project

Filed

United States of America

District of Columbia

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Federal Government Sought to Stay Proceedings After Court Enjoined Order Suspending Work on Offshore Wind Project

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector