Chevron Is Out Of Style

On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated ruling overruling Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., 467 U.S. 837. For 40 years, the Chevron doctrine has required courts to defer to a federal agency's reasonable interpretation of statutes administered by that agency. Id. at 843. This doctrine has provided agencies with much power in making policy decisions regarding the outcome of ambiguous statues. Critics of the doctrine have complained of the unpredictable and inconsistent interpretations due to frequent administration changes.

The Chevron doctrine required courts to partake in a two-part test first asking, "whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue." Id. at 842. If the answer is negative, the court should then move to the second step which requires the courts to defer to the agency's permissible interpretation of the ambiguous statute. Id. at 843.