On Tuesday, March 31st a group of officials nicknamed the “God Squad” voted to exempt gas and oil drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico, called the Gulf of America by the Trump administration, from measures designed to protect endangered species, including the Endangered Species Act.

The group, known officially as the Endangered Species Committee, is headed by the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Army, as well as the leaders of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Council of Economic Advisors. The “God Squad” has only convened three times and not in the past 30 years, most recently in 1992.

After the meeting, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed that the unanimous decision was to protect national interests in the wake of the war with Iran, saying that due to the restriction on oil from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. needed to expand its oil-gathering capabilities.

The Gulf of Mexico is the home to the only 50-odd remaining Rice’s whales in the world. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 led to the death of around 20% of the species. This exemption from the E.S.A. would likely lead to further eradication of the species, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. There are several other endangered species in the Gulf which could be affected by the ruling.

A number of environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed a lawsuit on the 15th against the God Squad’s decision. The suit claims that the decision of the panel was made without proper reasoning and without outside testimonies regarding the choice.