Barack Obama spent years weaponizing the federal bureaucracy against American farmers.
His radical environmental agenda nearly destroyed rural America.
And Barack Obama was fuming after Trump brought this war against farmers to an end.
Obama's EPA turned puddles into federal waterways
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin unveiled a new rule that finally ends one of the most egregious power grabs in federal government history.
Obama's 2015 Waters of the United States regulation gave Washington bureaucrats control over nearly every inch of American farmland.
"Democrat Administrations have weaponized the definition of navigable waters to seize more power from American farmers, landowners, entrepreneurs, and families," Zeldin stated.¹
The Obama-era rule claimed authority to regulate 97 percent of Iowa's land as federal waterways.²
That's not a typo.
Obama's EPA told farmers in Iowa that the federal government could regulate water on 97 percent of their state.
Prairie potholes became "navigable waters."
Dry ditches that only carried water after storms suddenly required federal permits.
Even temporary puddles fell under Washington's jurisdiction.
Michael and Chantell Sackett learned this the hard way when they started building a modest home near Priest Lake in Idaho.
Obama's EPA swooped in and threatened them with fines of up to $40,000 per day for putting dirt on their own property.³
The agency claimed their residential lot in a subdivision was protected wetlands even though homes surrounded the property on all sides.
The Sacketts fought back for 16 years before the Supreme Court finally ruled 9-0 in Sackett v. EPA that the EPA had no authority over their land.⁴
Farmers forced to hire lawyers just to move dirt
The insanity didn't stop with Idaho.
Obama's EPA claimed a ditch 30 feet away from the Sacketts' property created a "significant nexus" to Priest Lake.
That gave Washington bureaucrats the power to tell this couple they couldn't build on land they owned.
Think about what that means for farmers.
A rancher in Nebraska couldn't move soil on his own property without hiring lawyers and consultants to determine if some temporary wet spot qualified as "waters of the United States."
The permitting process could take years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And the EPA admitted they would probably deny the permits anyway.
"No longer should America's landowners be forced to spend precious money hiring an attorney or consultant just to tell them whether a Water of the United States is on their property," Zeldin explained.⁵
Obama's WOTUS rule forced family farmers to navigate regulatory quicksand.
One wrong step could trigger crushing civil fines of over $60,000 per day.
Property owners faced potential criminal charges and imprisonment for negligently discharging "pollutants" like dirt and rocks into covered waters.⁶
Buck Wehrbein, president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said the rule created chaos for ranchers.
"Every few years, the definition of a 'water of the U.S.' has changed. Often, this meant that small water features like prairie potholes or dry ditches suddenly fell under federal regulation," Wehrbein stated.⁷
Cattle producers spent years in court fighting the EPA's overreach.
NCBA filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA case and initiated numerous lawsuits against both the Obama and Biden administrations.
The cattlemen's group finally got the Trump Administration to craft a workable rule.
Trump delivers knockout blow to Obama's wetlands scheme
Senator Chuck Grassley said Obama's power grab would have been an economic catastrophe for Iowa.
"My neighbors who farm in Butler County shouldn't have to get permission from bureaucrats in Washington to move soil on their own land," Grassley explained.⁸
The new Trump rule announced Monday ensures only large bodies of water and their main tributaries fall under federal jurisdiction.
It defines key terms like "relatively permanent" and "continuous surface connection" based on the Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA decision.
Zeldin's EPA is delivering on Trump's promise to protect American farmers while maintaining clean water standards.
The proposed rule will eliminate needless red tape and provide clarity for ranchers, energy producers, and landowners.
Obama built his entire WOTUS scheme on an ambiguous "significant nexus" test that all nine Supreme Court Justices rejected in 2023.
The test let EPA bureaucrats claim virtually any wet spot had a connection to navigable waters somewhere.
Biden tried to keep Obama's legacy alive by reimposing the expanded definition in 2023.
But Trump's November landslide gave him a mandate to end this regulatory nightmare once and for all.
Farm groups across America are celebrating the change.
Senator Joni Ernst, who led the fight against WOTUS in Iowa, praised Trump for keeping his promise.
"For years, Iowans have told me we need to get rid of the 2015 WOTUS rule—an egregious power grab by the Obama Administration," Ernst stated.⁹
Obama spent eight years expanding federal control over private property through environmental regulations.
Trump's new WOTUS rule just torched that entire agenda and returned power to states, farmers, and local communities where it belongs.
¹ Sean Moran, "EPA Chief Lee Zeldin to Revise Rule Democrats Weaponized Against American Famers," Breitbart News, November 17, 2025.
² Joni Ernst, "New WOTUS rule is welcome news for Iowa farmers," U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, 2020.
³ "Joe Biden's 'puddle' agenda under fire from EPA chief Lee Zeldin," WorldNetDaily, November 17, 2025.
⁴ "Sackett v. EPA," Pacific Legal Foundation, July 7, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ "Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency," Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center.
⁷ "NCBA Secures New WOTUS Proposed Rule that Protects Family Farmers and Ranchers," National Cattlemen's Beef Association, November 17, 2025.
⁸ "More Widespread Support for EPA and Army's Navigable Waters Protection Rule," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, January 24, 2020.
⁹ Ibid.
