( January 27, 2026, 11:12 AM EST) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has filed an answer in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denying allegations against him and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups challenging Burgum’s and others’ “unlawful decision” to hold a sale for offshore hydraulic fracturing leases. Burgum asserts affirmative defenses contending that the groups have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted....