During a major hearing this week, the conservative justices made clear they’re about to gut the federal government’s power to regulate—and take that power for themselves.
The Supreme Court heard two consolidated cases yesterday that could reshape the legal landscape and, with them, the country. The cases take on Chevron deference—the idea that courts should defer to executive agencies when applying regulations passed by Congress. They’re the most important cases about democracy on the court’s docket this year, and I say that knowing full well that the court is also set to decide whether a raving, orange criminal can run again for president, and whether former presidents are immune from prosecution for their crimes in the first place.
That’s because what conservatives on the court are quietly trying to do is pull off the biggest judicial power grab since 1803, when it elevated itself to be the final arbiter of the Constitution in Marbury v. Madison. They’re trying to place their unelected, unaccountable policy preferences ahead of the laws made by the elected members of Congress or rules instituted by the president. If conservatives get their way, elections won’t really matter, because courts will be able to limit the scope of congressional regulation and the ability of presidents to enforce those regulations effectively. And the dumbest justice of all, alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh, basically said so during oral arguments.
I’m contractually obligated to tell you that the cases were technically about fees that fisheries are required to pay to federal observers. But all the justices talked about was Chevron deference. Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor even bothered to mention the fish, three hours and 20 minutes into a three-and-a-half-hour hearing.
Okay. When you’re done talking past me in an attempt to make your point, I want you to think about the current SCOTUS, what their decisions might look like coming out of this, and that the executive branch isn’t “cops”.
They’re not going to fix the issues that Chevron introduced, they’re going to nuke the idea that something can be included in legislation if it isn’t explicitly stated. Meaning questions that the Legislation left open for the Executive to answer as it comes up, with Judicial oversight if the Executive exceeds its established authority, will be replaced with only the Judicial branch gets to interpret laws. At that point, any open ended questions left by Legislation can only be decided by the Judicial branch.
This kills the EPA, the FCC, literally any decision making body within the Executive and replaces it with the incredibly slow Judicial system that benefits the wealthy EVEN HARDER than Chevron.
No law that applies exactly to whatever you’re doing? There’s no law then and you can do whatever you want until someone has standing to sue you about it or a new law is passed. EPA wants to limit a new type of pollution? That wasn’t specifically called out as a pollutant in the NEPA, guess you can’t regulate it until the Legislature adds a clause to allow you to regulate that specific new pollutant. FCC wants to set rules for ISPs? Internet wasn’t a thing in 1934 when they established the FCC, guess you can’t regulate them. Or Broadcast TV.
Dude, this is going to be a nuke to America’s already hilariously bad guardrails.
The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Customs and Border Protection, National Security Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Department of Justice are cops. There is a Medicare Fraud Strike Force. They don’t walk a beat, but they are cops.
They will not.
Won’t happen.
You think it’s going to be legal to kill Clarence Thomas because there is not a law that specifically prohibits killing Clarence Thomas? I doubt it.