GOP memo outlines post-Chevron agenda

By Emma Dumain | 06/26/2024 06:55 AM EDT

A Supreme Court ruling could hobble the administration’s rulemaking power and give GOP lawmakers an opening.

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), chair of the Republican Study Committee, on Capitol Hill. Francis Chung/POLITICO

Lawmakers are preparing for the Supreme Court to issue a ruling as soon as this week that could overturn or scale back a 40-year legal doctrine that helps federal agencies defend their rules against lawsuits.

Staff for the conservative House Republican Study Committee released a memo Monday outlining ways in which lawmakers could exploit a potential ruling on the so-called Chevron doctrine.

“If Chevron is rolled back or overturned,” the memo reads, “this will be a landmark decision which could open the door to Congress reclaiming its Article One Authority, rolling back Biden’s woke and weaponized administrative agenda, and providing for further pro-growth regulatory policy.”

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The Supreme Court originally conceived of Chevron to uphold a Reagan-era EPA air pollution rule, arguing that judges should defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of their powers in cases where Congress has been unclear.

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