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https://www.ebglaw.com/insights/publications/supreme-court-alters-the-administrative-state-loper-and-relentless-decision-shifts-authority-from-administrative-agencies-and-creates-uncertainty
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It goes without saying that the actions of federal regulatory agencies greatly affect many essential aspects of our daily lives, among them the delivery of medical services, medicines, and therapeutic devices and the availability of insurance to cover them; the safety of our workplaces; the quality of the environment; and relations between employers and employees.
Where these agencies, of what is known colloquially as the “Administrative State,” have acted under clearly stated legislative authority, their conduct has been evaluated by the federal courts under a well-established set of strictures defined in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). For the past 40 years, where agencies’ statutory authority is ambiguous, these agencies, not the courts, have been given broad authority to act. This deference to agencies had been embodied in the doctrine of Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). But no longer.
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States categorically overturned Chevron and its doctrine of agency deference in Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo, No. 22-451, and Relentless, Inc., et al. v. Department of Commerce, No. 22-1219. Strongly asserting that the Chevron doctrine was inconsistent with the constitutional separation of powers and the APA, the Chief Justice, writing for himself and Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, opined that courts are to exercise their independent judgment in deciding if an agency has acted within the scope of its statutory authority, and are not bound to defer to any agency just because the relevant statute is ambiguous. This ruling will have a broad impact on federal departments and agencies, Congress, courts, and those individuals and entities challenging agency regulations, orders, and guidances.
The Chevron Doctrine: 1984–June 28, 2024
From 1984 until June 28 of this year, the bedrock formulation for resolving challenges to agency interp…