Congress delays whale protection rules for seven years
H.R. 9436 — Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act of 2026 · Filed by Michael Lawler (R-NY) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 24, 2026 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill changes a 2023 law. It pushes back when new whale-protection rules start. The rules were set for 2028. Now they will start in 2035. This gives the lobster fishing industry seven more years.
Who it affects
North Atlantic right whales are endangered. Fewer than 340 are alive. Lobstermen and fishing companies in the Northeast will have more time. Citizens will see whales stay at risk for seven more years.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say which specific rules are delayed. The bill's name says it protects lobstermen but does not explain the trade-off.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jun 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 24, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Jul 15, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Jul 15, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 22 - 13”
- Sep 1, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 219 - 196 (Roll no. 291). (text: CR H5395)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 3 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.
Those reports show $400,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 9 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.
More groups named this bill than 61% of bills with any report.
Michael Lawler, who sponsored the bill, received $2,024,571 from PACs for the 2026 election.
- Defenders of Wildlife — $270,000 in 1 report
- Wildlife Conservation Society — $100,000 in 1 report
- International Fund for Animal Welfare — $30,000 in 1 report
Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.
Words to know
- endangered — So rare that the animal may die out forever
- lobstermen — People who catch lobsters for a living
- trade-off — When you gain one thing but lose another thing
- lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
- PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
- sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (401 characters) on Jul 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 21, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-17.
“Congress delays whale protection rules for seven years” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9436/simple Report an error