Legislation led by U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) aims to restore accountability and transparency to federal regulatory processes by providing certain reforms to Chevron deference.
The Chevron deference, which was established in a 1984 case involving the oil giant, gave federal agencies far-reaching powers to interpret laws and decide the best ways to apply them.
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 voted 6-3 to overturn the Chevron doctrine in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, ending the 40-year-old precedent of Chevron deference. In ending it, the conservative-majority court severely weakened the powers of federal agencies.
“Unelected bureaucrats have exploited the Chevron deference doctrine to impose onerous regulations that hinder American businesses and stifle economic growth,” Rep. Pfluger said on July 17. “Overruling Chevron is crucial for the Permian Basin and beyond.”
Rep. Pfluger on July 2 sponsored the Returning the Power to the People Act of 2024, H.R. 8928, which would require that in any civil action before a federal court, the court may not show greater deference to the interpretation of a statute by one party to the civil action, according to the bill’s text.
Instead, the bill says, the court shall issue its own interpretation pursuant to the principles of statutory interpretation.
Likewise, no agency may issue a rule except to the extent that the authority to do so has been explicitly conferred by statute, the text says, and to the extent that no such authority has been conferred, the agency shall assume that no such authority has been conferred, among other provisions.
“My legislation provides clarity while we unravel the multitude of regulations built upon this flawed principle,” said Rep. Pfluger. “It’s time to rein in the federal regulatory state.”
H.R. 8928, which has eight original Republican cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Carol Miller (R-WV), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), and Pete Stauber (R-MN), has been referred for consideration to both the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee.