In Enbridge Energy, LP v. Nessel, decided April 22, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court made a practical point unmistakably clear: If a case is removable from state to federal court at the outset, waiting to remove can forfeit the opportunity altogether. The Court held that if the case is removable when served, 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(1) gives the defendant 30 days to remove and that deadline can't be equitably tolled.

The facts made the point starkly. Michigan’s attorney general sued Enbridge in state court in June 2019, seeking to shut down pipeline operations under state law. Instead of removing to federal court within 30 days, Enbridge litigated in state court for months—only to remove almost 900 days later, after a related federal case produced a favorable ruling on federal-question jurisdiction.

That strategy didn't work. In a unanimous opinion by Justice Sotomayor, the Court held that even assuming the removal deadline is nonjurisdictional, the statute’s text, structure, and context show that Congress didn't want open-ended equitable tolling for late civil removals. Congress built specific timing rules and specific exceptions into the removal statutes, including later removal when removability is first ascertained later, and targeted “for cause shown” extensions in certain other contexts, but not a general safety valve for civil cases. 

The Court’s reasoning also reflects something worth keeping in mind operationally: Removal law is designed to resolve forum fights early, not after substantial litigation in another court. The Court emphasized efficiency, finality, and the need to avoid wasting resources on threshold disputes that should have been settled at the outset. 

To be sure, the Court footnoted that it was deciding only equitable tolling. It didn't address other doctrines such as waiver, forfeiture, or estoppel. So there may still be edge-case arguments in unusual situations. But the core lesson is still the same: Don't assume a court will forgive a missed removal deadline simply because the federal path becomes clearer later. Once 30 days have passed, the ability to remove may be forever lost.