The Supreme Court overruled the landmark 1984 decision in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., otherwise known as the Chevron doctrine, on Friday, June 28. This decision will likely have pervasive effects on the nation from environmental regulation to health care costs. 

The Chevron doctrine allowed for legislative delegation to administrative agencies to make reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal laws in which the court is unable to substitute its own interpretation of the statute. Essentially, the powers once delegated to scientists, economists and other specialists at agencies who have more knowledge and expertise than judges in determining regulations will now be in the hands of the courts. 

The case that reached the Supreme Court started when Atlantic herring fishermen sued the Department of Commerce, fighting back against federal rules which forced them to pay for independent observers to monitor their catch. The discrepancy began as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act gave the authority of fisheries regulations to the Secretary of Commerce, who delegated the authority to the National Marine Fisheries Service. In two related cases fishermen argued that the MSA did “not authorize the officials to create industry monitoring requirements and that the NMFS failed to follow the proper rulemaking procedure,” according to Oregon Public Broadcasting, and urged the court to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine. 

The doctrine was overturned in a 6-3 decision. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. dismissed any suggestion that agencies are better suited than courts to determine the ambiguities within federal laws even if they necessitate professional scientific perspectives . “Agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities […] [and federal judges] must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority,” Roberts said. 

This decision was endorsed by many members of the Republican party, as “overturning Chevron was a shared goal of the conservative movement and the Trump administration” said Mandy Gunasekara, who served as chief of staff of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump and aided in writing Project 2025, a blueprint for the next Republican administration. The two related cases presented by fishermen were both advocated by conservative legal organizations, the Cause of Action Institute and New Civil Liberties Alliances, extensively financed in the millions of dollars from the Koch network. 

Justin Pidot, co-director of the Environmental Law, Science and Policy Program at University of Arizona Law and the general counsel to the White House Council on Environmental Quality said that “the conservative courts have increasingly expressed skepticism of the EPA and other agencies as they try to tackle challenges like climate change.” 

“Congress can always enact new legislation that could reverse these cases and mandate courts to give deference to agencies but the challenge is that Congress has not been a functional institution for many decades, and so we have not seen the types of climate regulation that we need,” Pidot said.

Ultimately the decision affects various government agencies, including the EPA, labor agencies, the Food and Drug Administration and health care. Chevron “has become a part of the warp and woof of modern government […][ it is] supporting regulatory efforts of all kinds- to name a few, keeping air and water clean, food and drugs safe, and financial markets honest” Justice Elena Kagan said. 

Although the reversal of Chevron will “not remove E.P.A’s foundational legal obligation to regulate climate-warming pollution,” it will complicate matters for administrations to defend the agency’s efforts to reduce pollutants from cars and trucks and accelerate transitions to electric vehicles, according to The New York Times. The ruling will also pose additional challenges to the already contested Securities and Exchange Commission’s efforts to mandate public companies to disclose information about their climate risks and carbon emissions as well as the elements of the Inflation Reduction act set by the Biden administration aimed to promote clean energy through tax credit incentives. 

Workers may also be affected as the Chevron deference increases the difficulty for the government to employ “workplace safety regulations and enforce minimum wage and overtime rules,” according to The New York Times. Recently, the Biden administration raised the salary level at which salaried workers become automatically eligible for overtime pay from $35,000 to $59,000, beginning in January. Business groups disputed this legislation and challenged the Labor Department’s authority to set such salary thresholds, which now have increased probability of success without the Chevron precedent.  

This reversal of Chevron in terms of healthcare and the FDA mainly poses threats in the form of increased litigation as industry groups are more inclined to challenge government agency regulations from the “reimbursements determination by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services” as well as “impact the outcomes and timelines of FDA approvals,” according to Fitch Rating. 

The court has overturned three major precedents in the last three terms from the right to abortion in 2022, affirmative action in 2023 and now the power of administrative agencies. The upcoming presidential election will not only decide who will be in control of Congress, but also which party may retain power within the Supreme Court. 

SCOTUS justices serve lifetime appointments on the bench. Three of the nine justices were nominated by Donald Trump during his presidency, cementing a conservative majority on the bench, and this impact was evident in the overturning of Roe v. Wade decision in 2022. 

“The next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees. Two more. He’s already appointed two that have been very negative in terms of rights of individuals,” said United States President Joe Biden.

Follow the Daily Wildcat on Instagram and Twitter/X