In the flurry of activity at the end of the Supreme Courts 2023-2024 term, a 6-3 majority ruled in two cases, Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce, that the courts need not defer to federal agencies interpretations of the powers delegated to them by Congress when Congresss instructions are unclear or ambiguous.
Courts still may defer to an agencys findings of facts, but not to an agencys interpretation of the applicable law.
The rulings overturned the courts long-standing Chevron doctrine.
The Supreme Courts dissenting minorityJustices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jacksonsaw Loper as an exercise in judicial hubris, seizing the power to make complex decisions over regulatory matters away from federal agenciesand giv[ing] it to themselves.