Sometimes the big news from the Supreme Court comes not when the justices rule on a case, but when they decide to take it in the first place. That happened yesterday in a case with big implications for the role of government in American life.
And there’s a family drama at play, too. I write about that twist in my upcoming book, The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America. More about that below.
First the news: the justices agreed to hear Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. It’s an arcane case about who pays to monitor whether fishing boats are following federal fishery plans. As I said, arcane. But the Court announced it would consider one topic and one topic only in hearing the appeal: Should it overturn Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council?
Those who care about the environment, worker safety, and fair markets should feel a chill. This right-wing supermajority has already shown that it is eager to heed the demand of financial interests that did so much to install its members on the Court: find a way to curb the power of regulatory agencies.
The 1984 ruling in Chevron held that when an expert regulatory agency interprets an ambiguous law reasonably, the courts will not second-guess. It is among the most cited cases in federal courts. Over many decades, it has allowed government to function, while taking seriously notions of judicial restraint. After all, the engineers and economists and scientists of the Food and Drug Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency or the Securities and Exchange Commission . . . or for that matter, the fisheries agency! . . . must be capable of acting within the parameters set by Congress without an ideologically nosy judge jumping in. Chevron was a favorite of Justice Antonin Scalia. He thought it reflected the proper role for government — and for unelected justices and judges.
But major industries and...
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