U.S. SUPREME COURT SHIFTS POWER AWAY FROM REGULATORS
July 1, 2024
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On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn the landmark 1984 decision, Chevron V. Natural Resources Defense Council. This previous case gave rise to the “Chevron Deference” doctrine which required courts to uphold a regulatory agency’s interpretation of a statute as long as it was reasonable. The now overruled case came to be one of the most cited Supreme Court decisions and was a critical backstop that regulatory bodies relied on when promulgating new rules. As a consequence of this decision, U.S. courts will now have much more latitude to interpret statutes and overturn agency interpretations including recent Department of Transportation (“DOT” or “the Department”) rules regarding consumer protections. One such controversial rule, DOT’s “fare transparency rule” is particularly vulnerable as it has previously faced significant legal challenges in court. Some analysts predict that this ruling will discourage DOT from pursuing broader regulations for fear of being overturned, and instead will force DOT to focus on technical rulemaking. This decision will also likely create the opportunity for a greater number of DOT regulations to be successfully challenged.
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