By overturning the so-called “Chevron deference” rule that gives outsized power to federal agencies in interpreting laws, the U.S. Supreme Court is helping restore American liberty and the proper balance of powers, Attorney General Todd Rokita said today. His office — along with 26 other states — asked the court months ago to take the critical step of overturning the Chevron rule because it created an unaccountable administrative state.
“We are seeing truly remarkable progress in dismantling an administrative state that has oppressed Americans and their liberties for far too long,” Attorney General Rokita said. “The U.S. Constitution gives authority to Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, to enact laws. For 40 years, we tolerated a precedent that turned that principle on its head.”
That precedent — Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — became null and void with the Supreme Court’s decision Friday in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.
When disputes arise over the meaning of laws, those disputes should be settled in the courts rather than the back rooms of federal agencies, Attorney General Rokita said.
“Hoosiers and all freedom-loving Americans can be grateful the Supreme Court is curbing the excessive power that has been given to executive-level agencies,” Attorney General Rokita said. “When we rely on the administrative state to govern us, we lose the checks and balances inherent in the system created by America’s founders.”
The Supreme Court has also indicated a willingness to trim back the powers of the administrative state in other recent cases — such as on Thursday when it stayed the EPA’s so-called “Good Neighbor Rule” that imposes extreme emissions-control measures on “upwind” states like Indiana to mitigate pollution in “downwind” states. That case will continue to be litigated in appellate and circuit courts.
