As John noted back in March, the SEC voted to discontinue it defense of the climate disclosure rules in litigation pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Liz indicated back in April that state intervenors filed a motion to hold the case in abeyance, and on April 24, 2025, the Eighth Circuit granted the intervenors’ motion to hold the litigation in abeyance. In the order granting the motion, the Eighth Circuit directed the SEC to file a status report within 90 days advising whether the SEC intends to review or reconsider the rule. The court stated that if the SEC determines “to take no action, then the status report should address whether the Commission will adhere to the rules if the petitions for review are denied and, if not, why the Commission will not review or reconsider the rules at this time.”

The SEC filed its status report yesterday, and Commissioner Crenshaw was not happy with what it said. In a statement, Commissioner Crenshaw noted: “The Commission has effectively ignored the Court’s order and thrown the ball back at the Court. The Court should decline to play these games.” She further stated:

The Court “directed” the Commission to advise whether it “intends to review or reconsider the [R]ules at issue in this case.” And, if the Commission has determined to take no action, the Court ordered the Commission to explain whether it “will adhere to the [R]ules if the petitions for review are denied and, if not, why it will not review or reconsider the [R]ules at this time.”

The Court’s directive was straightforward; our answer is not.

The Commission’s Status Report, filed today, states plainly enough that it has no intention of revisiting the Rules at this time. That, however, is where our responsiveness ends. The Status Report goes on to argue that we cannot expound on what the Commission’s future plans might be in the event the rulemaking petitions are denied, because we would be “prejudging” those policy decisions. And, the Status Report explains, any future rulemaking should benefit from a court ruling on our statutory authority.

We also weigh in on a number of questions that the Court did not ask of us – for example, we opine that there are “no obstacle[s]” to reaching the merits of the case and that a “live controversy” remains.

This purported response is wholly unresponsive.

It remains to be seen what the Eighth Circuit will do in response to the SEC’s status update, but needless to say, it appears that no resolution is in sight for the future of the climate disclosure rules.

– Dave Lynn