B12. The Chevron Doctrine Runs Out of Gas: The Roberts Court’s Agenda to Curtail the "Administrative State."

The New Deal gave rise to the birth of the modern federal regulatory regime. Prompted by economic and social dysfunctions from decades of unchecked expansion of corporate power, FDR’s legislative agenda created new agencies with responsibilities to regulate many parts of society. As federal regulatory power expanded, the oversight of agency action became a focus of Congress and the courts. In the 1970s, a conservative backlash developed, with calls for restrictions on what was perceived by business interests as excessive and burdensome regulation. In recent years, a markedly conservative Roberts Court has issued major decisions that have curtailed the power to implement federal laws. This course will examine the birth and expansion of the federal regulatory regime, how agencies operate through rulemaking, the framework of judicial review of agency action, the Chevron doctrine of deference to agencies’ interpretations of laws, the conservative assault on the “administrative state,” and recent landmark decisions of the Roberts Court, including the abandonment of the Chevron doctrine.

Optional Reading =>

The Chevron Doctrine: Its Rise and Fall and the Future of the Administrative State, Thomas W. Merrill (Harvard Univ Press 2022)

John S Ross, III holds law degrees from Yale University, The University of Virginia School of Law, and New York University School of Law, and served as Adjunct Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law.  He has taught numerous courses in the WISE program on constitutional law, the Supreme Court and other topics.  He also facilitates the WISE Supreme Court SIG.