First appearance on FOX In the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that stripped federal agencies of their court-fighting powers, Senate Republicans are launching a new “major” effort to further curb the power of the “administrative state.”
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of East Coast fishermen who sued over a federal agency’s requirement that they pay $700 per day to “offshore observers,” arguing that the government’s rules exceeded the scope Congress had set for federal agencies.
In doing so, the Supreme Court overturned the so-called Chevron doctrine, a legal doctrine established in the 1980s that holds that when a federal regulation is challenged, courts should defer to an agency’s interpretation of whether Congress granted it the authority to issue the rule, unless the agency’s interpretation is reasonable and Congress directly addresses the issue.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) called the Supreme Court’s decision “a major blow to the devastating Chevron deference standard and an opportunity for Congress to take back lawmaking power from the agencies and dismantle the administrative state.”
‘A major blow to big government’: Major Supreme Court decision strips federal agencies of their ‘faceless leviathan’ powers
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3, overturning the decades-old Chevron doctrine. (U.S. Supreme Court Collection/File via Getty Images)
On Thursday, Schmitt and a group of 11 Republican lawmakers introduced new legislation that he says would “take back legislative power from the executive branch” and return it to Congress. Schmitt is also leading a task force of 18 of his colleagues to further explore ways Congress can strip the executive branch of power.
The bill, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA), would create a so-called “new standard of review” in the Administrative Procedure Act that would prohibit the judiciary from continuing an unconstitutional standard of deference to government agencies that Schmitt says favors big government and discourages private parties in court.
Under the new bill, courts would review the merits of arguments without any standard of deference to either side, which Schmidt said would put U.S. citizens and businesses who have been adversely affected by regulatory enforcement actions or who are challenging the validity of agency actions on an equal footing with administrative agencies in court.
A similar bill has already passed this Congress on a party-line vote, and the Senate version currently has 11 co-sponsors.
In addition, a broader group of Republican senators sent letters to 101 executive agencies that have issued more than 50 final rules since 2000.
Supreme Court sides with fishermen in landmark case that will decide the fate of the administrative state
Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In their letter, the senators requested more information about ongoing rulemaking, civil enforcement actions, and rulings by the agency, as well as how the Supreme Court’s decision will affect all of these actions going forward, so that lawmakers can provide better oversight.
“The Constitution is clear: decision-making power rests with democratically elected lawmakers, not unelected bureaucrats,” said Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.
“For too long, the Chevron Doctrine has given sweeping power to the current administration and empowered President Biden’s government agencies to pander to their far-left base and drown Wyoming residents in a sea of regulations. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, I will work with my colleagues to take the steps necessary to restore legislative power to the people and finally return runaway government agencies to their rightful place,” she said.
How a Maine lobsterman turned a ‘slap in the face’ from the White House into a policy victory
East Coast fishermen sued government agencies for unconstitutionally regulating their business, and won. (New Civil Liberties Union and Cause of Action)
Schmitt also heads a working group of 17 colleagues that meets regularly to evaluate “how to most effectively constrain the administrative state’s exercise of unlawful power and how the Senate can more effectively legislate on issues that are typically left to the discretion of each agency.”
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“For too long, the American people have been penalized while these all-powerful alphabet-based agencies have exercised their power. Congress has handed off law-making duties to anonymous bureaucrats in agencies scattered across Washington, D.C. It’s time to take back that power and return to a government that truly represents the people,” Schmidt said.
