U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Chevron, Weakening Federal Regulators

The United States’ top court overturned a 40-year-old ruling on June 28 that figures to curtail the power of federal agencies to regulate environmental, public health, workplace safety and consumer protections.

The court’s 6-3 decision — six conservative judges in favor, three liberal judges dissenting — struck down a 1984 decision commonly known as Chevron and effectively passes regulatory power to lower courts.

The Chevron upending has long been a target of business interests and other opponents of the decades-old ruling, who argued that it gave authority to experts who work for the government rather than lower court judges.

“Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the Supreme Court majority. He added that the overturn decision does not call into to question previous cases that hinged on the Chevron ruling.

In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said alluded that Kagan’s assurance isn’t solid.

“The majority is sanguine; I am not so much,” she wrote, calling the decision “yet another example of the Court’s resolve to roll back agency authority, despite congressional direction to the contrary.”

When Chevron was first ruled in 1984, the Supreme Court passed it in a 6-0 vote with three judges recusing.

The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors issued a statement following the court’s ruling that can be read here.

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