Supreme Court To Hear Challenge To Federal Agencies

The Washington Post reports:

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would take up a case that could do away with a decades-old precedent that tells judges to defer to federal agencies when interpreting ambiguous federal laws, a deference long targeted by conservatives concerned about the power of the administrative state.

As the Supreme Court has become more conservative, the justices have grown less likely to defer to federal agencies under the 1984 precedent in Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council. But lower courts are bound to rely on the precedent because the Supreme Court has never officially renounced it.

CNN reports:

Conservatives on the bench have cast a skeptical eye on the so-called Chevron deference, arguing that agencies are often too insulated from the usual checks and balances essential to the separation of powers.

“The idea that agencies should be allowed to resolve ambiguities in statutes that they enforce has been a central feature of modern administrative law,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

The case will be heard next term, with a ruling likely in 2024. A separate case already on the justices’ calendar for next session, which begins in October, relatedly offers the opportunity to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which currently oversees practices related to mortgages, car loans and credit cards.

Supreme Court accepts case that challenges authority of federal agencies https://t.co/h8lVAAkHO8

— Post Politics (@postpolitics) May 1, 2023