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Legal Update
Jun 28, 2024
The Chevron Doctrine is Dead. Long Live the Administrative State.
Seyfarth Synopsis: Today, the administrative state’s foundation shook as the Supreme Court overruled Chevron, holding that federal administrative agencies are not entitled to deference in interpreting statutes and that courts, not agencies, must be the ultimate arbiters of statutory meaning. While the end of Chevron deference marks a sea change in administrative law, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court cited the value of stare decisis and also held that prior decisions on the lawfulness of agency action are not subject to immediate reversal. Additionally, much agency guidance, such as the EEOC’s Title VII guidance and the NLRB’s regulatory efforts, have not been subject to Chevron deference in the first place. Other agency guidance, such as certain DOL regulations relating to ERISA's reporting and disclosure requirements, stems from explicit statutory authority, and challenges to those regulations remain unlikely to succeed, even without Chevron's protective shield. While the end of Chevron deference represents a significant change in the way federal courts will handle challenges to agency guidance, the administrative state is still alive and kicking.
The Supreme Court has brought an end to 40 years of deference to administrative agencies, overturning Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 468 U.S. 837 (1984). In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451, 603 U.S. __ (2024), the Supreme Court held that courts, not agencies, are best situated to interpret ambiguous statutory provisions, even in areas of agency expertise.
Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a 6-3 conservative majority, and continuing the current Court’s hostility to the power of federal agencies, held that “[c]ourts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority,” rather than allowing the agency to fill …