White House drops huge power move over offshore oil rig Newsom’s trying to destroy

The Trump administration is ramping up its backing of Sable Offshore, dispatching three Cabinet secretaries to Santa Barbara while the Texas oil giant clashes with California regulators in court.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy are set to tour Sable’s pipeline and brainstorm strategies to overcome regulatory roadblocks threatening the project, according to The Independent.

The visit comes as Sen. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi call for an investigation into communications between Sable executive James Flores and President Trump, as well as potential campaign contributions connected to the company.

This political standoff is playing out against the backdrop of a deepening legal brawl over Sable’s push to revive oil production through a pipeline that crosses Gaviota State Park.

Last week, federal Judge Stephen Wilson handed the company a key victory — rejecting a request from California State Parks for a temporary restraining order that would have forced Sable to stop pumping oil through a four-mile stretch of pipeline running through the park.

State Parks has argued that the easement allowing oil to flow through that section of pipeline expired a decade ago and that the agency has denied Sable’s application for a new 30-year easement.

But Wilson ruled that State Parks had “manifestly failed to demonstrate that it will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction.”

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Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom is fighting to stop operations and remove part of Sable Offshore Corp.’s pipeline to prevent environmental disasters, protect state authority, and challenge federal overreach.

Californians are also set to be hit by further gas price hikes as Newsom quietly slipped through another tax increase.

The governor sent out a notice Monday signaling its gas tax will increase by about 2 cents beginning July 1.

State officials pointed to what they believed could be a sinkhole beneath the pipeline as evidence of potential danger. Sable’s experts disputed that claim, maintaining the feature was actually a rodent burrow.

Wilson appeared unconvinced by the state’s argument, writing that officials were “grasping at straws.”

Tensions spiked in March when Sable resumed oil pumping after Wright invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950 to issue a direct order.

The order was issued on national security grounds shortly after President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched attacks on Iran. Wright directed Sable to restart pumping under the federal authority granted by the Defense Production Act.

The ruling, however, did not resolve several major questions hanging over the project.

Wilson didn’t address concerns surrounding 18 pipeline anomalies — described by The Independent as corroded sections of pipe — that Sable recently repaired. California’s State Fire Marshal has argued those repairs did not go far enough and has insisted on more extensive work.

That dispute is poised to become the main battleground when both sides face off in court again.

The case has also sparked a broader dispute over who ultimately has the authority to determine whether the pipeline is safe enough to operate.

California’s State Fire Marshal had long been considered the final authority on whether production could restart. But the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, known as PHMSA, has since asserted that it — not California regulators — has jurisdiction over those decisions.

PHMSA’s position represents a reversal from documents it signed in 2016 that appeared to support California’s authority, the outlet reported.

Wilson is now expected to consider whether a 2020 consent decree giving the Fire Marshal the final say remains legally binding. He may also be asked to decide whether the Defense Production Act order itself can withstand constitutional challenges.

For now, Sable has secured a significant courtroom victory and a powerful show of support from Washington.

However, with California regulators, federal officials, and prominent Democrats maintaining their positions, any decision by Wilson is likely to be immediately appealed, leading to a larger legal and political dispute over the future of the oil operation.