Fifteen Republican-led states and the Arizona Legislature are urging the Supreme Court to revive a long-dormant legal doctrine to prevent Congress from handing policymaking to federal agencies.
Their friend of the court brief, filed this week and led by West Virginia, comes as the court is scheduled to hear arguments for two cases on March 26 that concern a telecommunications fee levied by the Federal Communications Commission. The coalition of attorneys general and Arizona lawmakers want the court to use the dispute to restore the nondelegation doctrine — a move that could curb the power of agencies like EPA.
“Anything less will allow agencies to take more and more of the core legislative power that our Constitution has said belongs to Congress alone,” the coalition wrote.
The two cases — Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research and SHLB Coalition v. Consumers’ Research — challenge an appeals court ruling last summer over FCC’s ability to raise funds to ensure telecommunications access to rural and low-income parts of the country. The commission collects funding for its universal service programs with the help of a private company.
