Why is Congress getting involved with this endangered fish? 🐟 (H.J.Res. 78)

What is H.J.Res. 78, and why did Congress just use a special legislative tool to strip protections away from a tiny fish?

In this quick Simply Civic breakdown, we explain House Joint Resolution 78 (H.J.Res. 78). Introduced by Representative Doug LaMalfa, this resolution utilizes the Congressional Review Act (CRA)—a powerful oversight tool that allows Congress to completely and permanently overturn rules created by unelected federal agencies.

Specifically, H.J.Res. 78 targets a Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule that officially listed the San Francisco Bay-Delta "Longfin Smelt" as an endangered species. When a species is added to the endangered list, it triggers massive federal protections that strictly dictate how land and water in that habitat can be used.

Supporters of the resolution, including the Trump Administration, argued that listing the Longfin Smelt as endangered was a weaponization of environmental law. They warned that the rule would force the government to severely restrict water allocations away from California's massive agriculture sector, effectively creating man-made droughts that devastate farmers, spike food prices, and impose crushing regulations on local logging and mining industries. They framed the resolution as a necessary step to prioritize the American economy and human needs over a tiny baitfish.

Opponents of the resolution fiercely defended the FWS rule, arguing that the Longfin Smelt is careening toward total extinction due to warming waters and depleted river flows. They warned that using politics to blindly override years of peer-reviewed scientific data sets a dangerous precedent for the Endangered Species Act. Furthermore, they pointed out that the Longfin Smelt is a critical foundation of the Bay-Delta food web, and letting it go extinct could trigger the collapse of the entire regional ecosystem, including highly profitable commercial salmon fisheries.

Despite the intense debate over environmental protection versus agricultural water rights, the resolution was strongly pushed by House leadership in the Spring of 2025 as part of a broader effort to slash federal environmental red tape.

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hhttps://simplycivic.org/bill/HJRES78

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