In a 6-3 decision in favor of petitioners in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has overruled Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council which gave deference to federal agencies in interpreting ambiguous statutes.
In the opinion delivered by Chief Justice Roberts, the process to review agency rules under Chevron is described in two steps, 1) whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue and 2) if statute is silent or ambiguous, the court must defer to an agency’s interpretation if based on a permissible construction of the statute. The opinion focuses on the second part of this test, noting “the deference that Chevron requires of courts reviewing agency action cannot be squared with” Administrative Practices Act requirements that the reviewing court “decide all relevant questions of law [and] interpret statutory provisions.”
SCOTUS directs reviewing courts to “exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, as the APA requires” and further to “respect the delegation… when a particular statute delegates authority to an agency consistent with constitutional limits”
