Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is suing the Biden administration for classifying the dunes sagebrush lizard in May as an endangered species. The big picture: The sand-burrowing lizard is native to a portion of the oil-and-gas-rich Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico and Paxton in a statement Monday called the designation an "unlawful misuse of environmental law" and a "backdoor attempt to undermine Texas's oil and gas industries.

Read more Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that his office is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Biden administration officials for declaring a rare lizard endangered earlier this year,