Attorney General Chris Carr issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the doctrine known as Chevron deference. Carr previously filed an amicus brief in the case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, asking the Court to overrule the Chevron doctrine.
“Today’s decision overruling the Chevron doctrine reaffirms what we have argued all along – federal agencies do not have the authority to create new laws,” said Carr. “For far too long, unelected Washington bureaucrats have continued to impose costly regulations on honest, hardworking Americans. We fought back, and we’re proud to have helped secure this major victory for the people of Georgia.”
Chevron deference required courts to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous federal statute, even if the court thinks the federal agency’s approach is not the most faithful way to read the statute. The doctrine effectively allowed federal agencies to expand their authority, without Congressional approval, whenever federal statutes were unclear.
The case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, involves a regulation by the National Marine Fisheries Service that requires herring fishing boats to have an additional person on board to serve as a monitor, tracking compliance with federal regulation. The catch: The fishing companies must pay the monitor’s salary, which would cost around $700 per day.
The fisheries sought relief in federal court. Applying Chevron deference, the lower courts allowed the federal agency’s imposition of costs, even though the statute did not expressly authorize it. The fisheries then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case.
Read a copy of the Supreme Court’s opinion here. Find Carr’s statement as posted on social media here.
