Bald eagle

Hawaii has joined 19 other states and the District of Columbia in two lawsuits accusing the Trump administration of illegally weakening the Endangered Species Act. Democratic attorneys general, led by Washington, California, Maryland and Massachusetts, filed the suits against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

One suit challenges a rule narrowing the definition of "harm" to exclude habitat destruction unless it directly kills or injures animals, opening protected habitats to drilling and mining. The other challenges rules that end automatic protections for newly threatened species and require agencies to weigh developer and industry objections before designating "critical habitats."

Officials argue the changes undermine a law credited with saving species like the bald eagle, grizzly bear and humpback whale. The Interior Department has defended the rules as correcting misuse of the 1973 law that it says has hindered development and competitiveness. The case adds to a wave of Democratic-led litigation challenging Trump administration deregulation efforts.