Chevron Deference Was Fun While It Lasted

null By Eugene ScaliaJan. 9, 2024 5:46 pm ETJournal Editorial Report: Best guesses of what's to come from Kim Strassel, Bill McGurn and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/AFP/Getty Images Composite: Mark KellyI’m less hostile than many conservatives toward Chevron v. NRDC (1984), the Supreme Court decision that instructs judges to defer to certain agency interpretations of statutes they administer, which the justices will reconsider next week. My ambivalence springs in part from filial loyalty—my father, Justice Antonin Scalia, was Chevron’s foremost champion before souring on such deference doctrines in his last years. Additionally, I once enjoyed Chevron deference myself, as labor secretary under President Trump. And boy did I enjoy it. After decades as a practicing lawyer pleading before federal judges, finally they had to defer to me. Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8Sponsored OffersTurboTax: Up to 10% off online tax services w

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Opinion Jan 10, 2024 Add to Reading List

Chevron Deference Was Fun While It Lasted

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Eugene Scalia

Jan. 9, 2024 5:46 pm ET

Journal Editorial Report: Best guesses of what's to come from Kim Strassel, Bill McGurn and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/AFP/Getty Images Composite: Mark Kelly

I’m less hostile than many conservatives toward Chevron v. NRDC (1984), the Supreme Court decision that instructs judges to defer to certain agency interpretations of statutes they administer, which the justices will reconsider next week. My ambivalence springs in part from filial loyalty—my father, Justice Antonin Scalia, was Chevron’s foremost champion before souring on such deference doctrines in his last years.

Additionally, I once enjoyed Chevron deference myself, as labor secretary under President Trump. And boy did I enjoy it. After decades as a practicing lawyer pleading before federal judges, finally they had to defer to me.