Congressional Republicans eager to stop judges from deferring to the EPA and other agencies in legal challenges to those agencies’ rules are touting a proposed bill they say would end the long-established practice of “Chevron deference,” but experts say the legislation won’t actually eliminate courts’ reliance on agency expertise.
So-called Chevron deference, based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1984 ruling in Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., has been targeted by congressional Republicans — and some Democrats — over the past couple of years in a few bills that never made it to President Barack Obama’s desk. Now, with the election of Donald Trump, those who would like to see judges defer less to regulatory agencies see a new opportunity to effect that change.
****
Robert Mangas, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig LLP, said a similar fate may await this year's version.
“With slightly narrower Republican majorities in both the House and Senate in 2017, the prospects for either approach are not likely to be improved. It will be difficult to find the votes in the Senate,” Mangas said.