Today, the Supreme Court formally revoked a long-standing judicial doctrine (known as the Chevron deference) that obligated courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of their statutory authority. Going forward, private litigants who challenge agency overreach will now have a fair opportunity to succeed in front of federal judges.
Deferring to an agency’s interpretation of statutory language has helped the administrative state grow beyond anything our founders could have imagined. Our Constitution assigns law-making power to the Congress. In theory, government agencies can only exercise those powers Congress has given them. Agencies, however, promulgate regulations without any thought on whether Congress has given them the authority to act – they simply grab power. But those days are ending. Regulatory excess has spurred a majority on the Supreme Court (who all recognize the importance of ensuring separation of powers) to level the playing field.
“There is still work to be done,” stated Landmark Vice President of Legal Affairs Mike O’Neill. “It remains to be seen the extent to which the Biden Administration will respect this decision. Congress needs to understand its role by enacting specific laws and not defer to the administrative state to make tough decisions. And private litigants need to continue to fight any efforts by the Biden Administration to ignore this important ruling.”
Read the Supreme Court’s decision here!