(Washington) The United States Supreme Court with a conservative majority on Friday reduced the freedom of action of federal agencies, in the crosshairs of ultraliberal circles crusading against “bureaucracy”, by overturning a 1984 case law.
This case law, known as the “Chevron doctrine”, gave the last word to government agencies in their field of competence, for example in matters of the environment, social protection or consumers. It required federal courts to follow those agencies’ “reasonable” interpretation when the law was ambiguous or silent.
“Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency acted within its statutory authority and cannot defer to that agency’s interpretation of the law simply because it is ambiguous,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote on behalf of the six-member conservative majority against the progressives.
“Chevron is canceled,” he continues.
Chevron jurisprudence “has become a pillar of modern government, supporting regulatory efforts of all kinds—to name a few on clean air and water, food and drug safety, and honesty of financial markets,” objects progressive Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent.
Critics of this jurisprudence argued that the interpretation of laws falls to the judicial branch and not to federal agencies, which depend on the executive branch.
Paradoxically, at the time this decision represented a success for the administration of Republican President Ronald Reagan, who accused progressive judges of burying businesses under exorbitant regulations.