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January 31, 2024

The burden of overregulation weighs heavily upon American industry. It saddles the business world with burdens that stifle initiative and diminish profits.

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One Supreme Court decision that reinforces and codifies this government regulation is Chevron U.S.A. v. National Resources Defense Council. The 1984 ruling over a Clean Air Act regulation held that when confronted with ambiguous provisions of federal statutory law, judges must defer to the reasonable interpretations of agency officials over any others.

This blank-check approach to the law made it difficult to challenge oppressive regulation and further empowered an already top-heavy bureaucracy. Soon, Chevron became the rule to make all rules.

Now, Chevron is being challenged, and it is about time.

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A Tool of the Political Parties

Chevron has been used by both political parties to advance their goals. The Reagan administration used it (some say for the good) to curb leftist judicial activism, trying to block its de-regulatory program. Liberals have used it (most say for bad purposes) to add layers of regulations to laws that promote their leftist ideology.

Most recently, Chevron has been used mainly by the Left. What is problematic about this SCOTUS precedent is not just the socialistic regulations but how the coercive power of the State is instrumentalized by the Left to curtail and chill private initiative and free enterprise.

Shielded by Chevron, instead of the infamous “legislating from the bench,” judges now defer to the executive branch’s radical interpretations and “execute [laws] from the bench.” The rash of White House executive orders can be sourced back to the Chevron privilege.

Thus, Chevron has been used in tens of thousands of cases to give power to technocrats. Some have labeled the ruling as the Roe v. Wade of federal rulemaking. Under its blanket referrals, anything can be justified. Most frequently, common sense is sacrificed.

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