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Yes—the U.S. House passed H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, by 211–204 on December 18, 2025. That vote did not itself remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act list, change federal protections, or make the bill law. The House-passed text would order the Interior secretary to reissue a 2020 gray-wolf delisting rule within 60 days after enactment and would bar judicial review of that reissued rule.
What the House actually passed
H.R. 845 is titled the Pet and Livestock Protection Act. The House approved it on December 18, 2025, by a 211–204 roll-call vote, according to the Congressional Record and the House-passed bill text.
A House vote is one step in the legislative process. It is not an enactment, and it does not by itself alter the Endangered Species Act status of any wolf population. The verified House action establishes passage in that chamber only.
What H.R. 845 would require if enacted
The engrossed bill directs the Secretary of the Interior, no later than 60 days after enactment, to reissue the final rule titled “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.” That rule was published on November 3, 2020, at 85 Fed. Reg. 69778.
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The bill also states that reissuing the rule under the bill “shall not be subject to judicial review.” Those are proposed statutory instructions. They are not evidence that the 2020 rule has already been reissued.
What “reissue” means here
Rather than directing a new, ordinary Endangered Species Act status review, the bill identifies a particular 2020 final rule and orders the department to issue it again if the legislation becomes law. The text therefore seeks a legislated outcome instead of leaving the result solely to a new agency rulemaking.
Would the bill remove protections immediately?
No. The House vote did not delist gray wolves. Until a bill is enacted and its instructions take effect—or an agency action independently changes the legal status—readers should not treat the vote as a change in federal law.
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The sources available for this article do not establish that H.R. 845 later passed the Senate, was signed by the president, or reached another final disposition by September 27, 2026. That uncertainty should not be converted into a claim that the bill either failed or remains pending.
Which wolves the proposal concerns
A December 18, 2025 report by Jacob Fischler for States Newsroom described the proposal as applying to gray wolves outside Alaska, with an exception for the Mexican wolf. That geographic and subspecies description is attributed to the report; the House vote itself does not mean every wolf population nationwide would be treated identically.
The bill’s title and debate focus on livestock and pet concerns, but the House debate is not a scientific population assessment. No independently verified population estimate is established here.
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Why the 2020 rule and a 2022 court ruling matter
The 2020 Interior Department rule is the specific rule H.R. 845 would require the secretary to reissue. States Newsroom reported that a federal court struck down that rule in 2022. The court decision and the full regulatory history are not independently reviewed in the materials used for this article, so that point should be understood as a reported description rather than a quotation of the court’s holding.
Supporters of H.R. 845 argue that reissuing the 2020 rule would return primary management authority to states. Opponents argue that Congress should not compel a particular administrative result, especially one tied to a rule that was reportedly invalidated in court.
What the judicial-review provision would change
Ordinarily, a final federal agency rule can be challenged in court under applicable administrative and environmental laws. H.R. 845 would remove that route for the reissuance it orders. The bill’s text does not merely direct delisting; it also attempts to prevent a court from reviewing that specific reissued rule.
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That provision is central to the policy dispute. Supporters present it as a way to prevent another court challenge from undoing the delisting. Critics say eliminating review removes a safeguard for testing whether the action complies with governing law.
Arguments made on the House floor
Supporters’ position
Members supporting the bill described delisting as a transfer of management authority from the federal government to states and emphasized conflicts involving livestock. Those statements appear in the Congressional Record as legislative arguments, not as neutral findings by the Fish and Wildlife Service or another scientific agency.
Opponents’ position
Opponents questioned whether Congress should revive a particular rule through legislation and objected to preventing judicial review. Rep. Donald S. Beyer (D-Va.) was quoted by States Newsroom as saying: “This bill fails to recognize the status of gray wolves today, taking us back to an outdated rulemaking that didn’t hold up in court.” The statement is Beyer’s argument, not an agency or court determination.
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How H.R. 845 differs from an agency-led delisting
| Issue | H.R. 845’s House-passed approach | Ordinary agency process |
|---|---|---|
| Decision maker | Congress would direct the Interior secretary to reissue a named rule if the bill became law. | The responsible agency would conduct the status-review and rulemaking process required by law. |
| Rule identified | The November 3, 2020 gray-wolf delisting rule at 85 Fed. Reg. 69778. | A new or otherwise legally authorized agency action based on the current record. |
| Timing in the proposal | Reissuance no later than 60 days after enactment. | No equivalent deadline is established by H.R. 845. |
| Court review | The bill says the reissuance would not be subject to judicial review. | Final agency actions are ordinarily reviewable under applicable law. |
What other wolf legislation shows—and what it does not show
S. 1306, a separate Senate measure introduced in April 2025, was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, according to its official Congress.gov history. That record does not establish final Senate action on H.R. 845, and S. 1306 should not be treated as proof that the House bill became law.
Hunter Nation, an advocacy organization, reported a July 2026 reintroduction of gray-wolf delisting legislation by Reps. Tom Tiffany and Lauren Boebert. The official bill number, text, and action history for that report were not verified here. It therefore cannot establish that a particular 2026 measure is the same vehicle as H.R. 845 or that it advanced.
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What pet and livestock owners should take from the vote
- No immediate legal change: The House passage alone does not remove federal protections or authorize a new form of wolf control.
- Do not rely on headlines saying wolves were already delisted: The verified action was passage by one chamber, not enactment.
- Watch the official legislative record: Senate action, presidential approval, and the effective implementation of any enacted language would determine whether the proposal changes law.
- Separate policy claims from agency findings: Statements about livestock conflicts, recovery, and state management in the Congressional Record are arguments made during debate.
Timeline of the verified actions
| Date | Event | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| November 3, 2020 | The specified gray-wolf delisting rule was published at 85 Fed. Reg. 69778. | It identifies the rule H.R. 845 would direct the Interior secretary to reissue. |
| April 2025 | S. 1306 was introduced and referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. | A separate Senate bill entered committee; it does not establish H.R. 845’s outcome. |
| December 18, 2025 | The House passed H.R. 845, 211–204. | House passage of the Pet and Livestock Protection Act. |
| September 27, 2026 | No final H.R. 845 disposition is established by the official materials identified here. | The available record does not verify enactment, Senate passage, or another final result. |
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