A federal judge just put an end to the Biden administration's ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. 

Newsmax reports that Judge James Cain Jr. released his decision in the case last Thursday.

In short, Cain found that both former President Joe Biden and Barack Obama exceeded their authority in implementing the ban.

A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority by indefinitely blocking new oil and gas drilling across major portions of U.S. coastal waters. https://t.co/SqEobUE7Ja

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) October 5, 2025

Background

This has to do with an executive order that Biden signed shortly after taking office, in January 2021. It was called, "Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad."

Newsmax reports:

The measure barred new leasing across 625 million acres, including the entire East Coast, the waters off California, Oregon, and Washington state, large parts of Alaska's coast, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico — now referred to as the Gulf of America.

The outlet notes that this move by Biden was an expansion of an order implemented by Obama. And, this was all in furtherance of the political left's climate change agenda.

Biden, in his executive order, put it this way:

The United States and the world face a profound climate crisis.  We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that crisis and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents.  Domestic action must go hand in hand with United States international leadership, aimed at significantly enhancing global action.  Together, we must listen to science and meet the moment.

The move was quickly challenged in the courts, and now opponents of the order have achieved a victory.

Biden went too far

The Hill reports Judge Cain as determining that Biden, with his executive order, exceeded his authority.

"Judge James Cain, a President Trump appointee, ruled that both former Presidents Biden and Obama exceeded their authorities when they tried to permanently protect the offshore areas from drilling," the outlet reports.

It continues, "Cain wrote that both of their orders 'constituted a departure from the executive branch’s longstanding practice and exceed the authority granted' to them under law."

This is being hailed as a big win for American energy, which President Donald Trump has made it a point to unleash.

Whether or not this will be the end of the legal dispute remains to be seen.