“We conclude that the Antiquities Act permits the President to alter a prior declaration of a national monument, including by finding that the ‘landmarks,’ ‘structures,’ or ‘objects’ identified in the prior declaration either never were or no longer are deserving of the Act’s protections,” the DOJ filing read.

A 1938 opinion drafted by Attorney General Homer Cummings “has long been cited as a reason for treating the declaration of a monument under the Antiquities Act as irrevocable.”

The DOJ argued to “disavow” that opinion.

The Justice Department’s opinion comes as the Interior Department seeks to scale back the federal land of six national monuments to make more land available for oil drilling and mining. Trump had also permitted commercial fishing at the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, but maintained the monument’s status. 

Since the Antiquities Act was enacted in 1906, 18 presidents from both political parties have dedicated federal land for monuments. During former President Joe Biden’s term, he established the Chuckwalla and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments, which preserve more than a thousand square miles of land. 

There are no reports on how Trump will exercise this new authority; during his first administration, he attempted to reduce the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. The issue went to court, but Biden revoked Trump’s decision before a final ruling was made. 

Back in 2021, Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts said he’d be in favor of hearing a challenge to the Antiquities Act, in which he accused it of transforming “into a power without any discernible limit to set aside vast and amorphous expanses of terrain.”

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White House spokesman Harrison Fields took the DOJ’s opinion as a win for the administration as it seeks to expand the nation’s energy sources, claiming Trump’s big, beautiful bill must be passed to see greater growth in energy resources.

“America’s energy infrastructure was on life support when President Trump got into office, and in nearly six months, the administration has shocked this critical industry back into life, making good on another promise to the American people,” Fields told the Washington Examiner. “It’s imperative that the Senate passes [the One Big Beautiful Bill Act] to completely end Biden’s war on American energy, and will liberate our federal lands and waters to oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and mineral leasing.”