Irish says lease amendments strengthen his concern that the cancellations are unlawful
Tony IrishFormer Interior Department attorney responding by email
Irish questions whether the statutory conditions for cancellation were met and whether a real or imminent dispute existed to settle. He says the agreements and amendments deepen his concerns.
“In my view, particularly in combination with the lease amendments, it makes the lease cancellations more patently unlawful and enhances my concerns,”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Did the Interior Department's offshore wind lease-cancellation payments comply with the Judgment Fund Act?
Beginning in March 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a series of agreements paying offshore wind developers TotalEnergies, Invenergy, and Bluepoint Wind a combined total of more than $2.3 billion to cancel seven offshore wind leases and redirect the money into oil, gas, and other conventional energy projects. Interior and the Department of Justice have said the payments were reviewed and approved settlements and dollar-for-dollar refunds that no company was forced to accept. Seven state attorneys general sued in June 2026; joined by an eighth, Delaware, and separately by California, they filed four federal lawsuits between June and September 2026 arguing the payments violate the Judgment Fund Act, 31 U.S.C. 1304, because no actual or imminent litigation existed to settle and because compensation for a canceled lease is otherwise available under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Members of Congress, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Deborah Ross, sent separate oversight letters demanding records on the legal basis for the payments. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne has said the payment returns money the company itself gave the Treasury in 2022, a characterization Interior Secretary Doug Burgum echoed by calling it an "interest-free loan" being repaid.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
This is a congressional republication of POLITICO E&E News reporting. The experts' legal conclusions are their views, not court rulings.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
He acknowledges the Judgment Fund can resolve an imminent threat of litigation, then examines whether that condition is supported here.
After the quotation
In a later LinkedIn post, Irish noted that the settlements included Total investments made as early as November 18, 2025, which he suggested could undercut Interior's national-security rationale.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to whether the payments complied with the Judgment Fund Act, Irish argues that under the amended leases there would be no controversy to settle and no imminent threat of a lawsuit, the condition he says allows use of the fund, and calls the cancellations more patently unlawful. He criticizes the legal basis for the payments, so condemns fits.
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The Dispute Index. "Irish says lease amendments strengthen his concern that the cancellations are unlawful". First published: 2026-10-27. Last updated: 2026-10-27. https://disputeindex.com/events/6963-irish-questions-whether-the-statutory-conditions-for-cancellation