Kaelan Deese writes for the Washington Examiner about the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s recent Chevron decision on the incoming presidential administration.
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron doctrine, and thereby curbing federal agencies’ ability to set rules, will shape President-elect Donald Trump’s approach to his 2025 policy agenda.
With its decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo earlier this year, the Supreme Court ended a precedent that had been on the books since 1984 that allowed federal agencies broad interpretive freedom over ambiguous statutes, known as the Chevron doctrine.
On the one hand, the new limitation on agency power aligns with Trump’s deregulatory vision.
But on the other, it could pose obstacles to his agenda by requiring his administration to work within narrower legal parameters.
However, some supporters of the incoming administration say the overturning of Chevron won’t have negative consequences for Trump so long as his policies are backed by statutes on the books.
Carrie Severino, president of the conservative judicial advocacy group JCN and a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, told the Washington Examiner that “Getting rid of Chevron doesn’t hurt a conservative administration.”
“The administrative state is, in fact, limited to what the federal law gives them authority to do…we don’t want to go beyond that in the first place,” Severino said.
Severino said that that the ruling reestablishes regulatory boundaries by removing any tool for agencies to go beyond the statutory text—an approach she believes is core to conservative governance.
For Trump, however, the Loper Bright decision could still present complications for second-term goals, such as immigration reform, energy policy, and deregulation. Trump relied on executive orders in his first term, and was largely shielded by Chevron. Now, he will now face heightened judicial scrutiny, forcing agencies to work more closely with Congress to pass clear legislative mandates.
