The Endangered Species Panel, known as the 'God Squad' for its power to determine the fate of endangered species, has approved an exemption to federal protections for the third time in its nearly 50-year history. The panel unanimously voted to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from environmental safeguards designed to protect endangered wildlife in its waters. The decision was met with condemnation from environmental groups and activists, with protestors demonstrating outside the Interior Department. The exemption is part of the latest move by the Trump Administration to weaken environmental protections. The committee, which was established in 1978 as a part of an amendment to the endangered Species Act, can grant exemptions to the law if the jeopardy of a proposed agency action cannot be avoided and the agency proposes it.