June 28, 2024

RANKING MEMBERS NADLER, CORREA STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO SUPREME COURT’S DECISION OVERTURNING CHEVRON DEFERENCE

WASHINGTON — In response to the Supreme Court’s decision today in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce, which overturned the decades-old precedent of deference toward federal agency decision-making that the Court announced in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler and Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Lou Correa released the following statements:

“Forty years ago, in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Court properly recognized the limits of its own authority in reviewing agency rules. While the Court has constitutional authority to interpret the law, it has no special expertise in the many complex issue areas in which Congress asks agencies to regulate. As Chevron recognized, the appropriate role of the courts is to defer to the agency’s judgment when it is reasonable. I am concerned that today’s decision opens a new era of policy made in the courts, giving well-heeled litigants the chance to shape the law to their liking,” Correa said.

“Further, this decision throws businesses across the country into uncertainty about the rules that they have been required to follow,” Correa said. “Small businesses on Main Street need certainty to survive. And families need the protections that agencies provide to ensure they have their fair chance at achieving the American Dream.”

“Today’s decision provides yet more proof that the far-right supermajority on the Supreme Court will cast aside whatever precedent it wants in its quest to increase its own power and that of its MAGA allies across the country. It comes at the expense of everyday Americans who depend on federal agencies to look out for their health and safety, not the bottom lines of giant corporations.” Nadler said.

“Recent decisions from this out-of-control Court have targeted specific rights, like the right to an abortion or the right to vote. But today’s decision affects every right, from the right to clean drinking water and a safe food supply to the civil rights and labor rights that Americans enjoy in schools and workplaces, among so many others,” Nadler said. “Any of these rights could now be on the chopping block, subject to the whims of unelected judges pursuing their own agendas.”

“Fortunately,” the lawmakers note, “Congress has the power to fight back by immediately passing the Stop Corporate Capture Act which would codify Chevron deference and return power to the experts as Congress intended.”

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