Supreme Court Strips Agencies' Power to Interpret Laws

On June 28, 2024, the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo to overturn the Chevron deference doctrine, a 40-year precedent established in Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984). Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion. The doctrine had required federal courts to defer to executive agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes when those interpretations were reasonable. The decision returned interpretive authority to courts using traditional statutory construction. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the dissent. The ruling reshaped the constitutional balance among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.