Chevron Deference Violates the Constitution, Argues FPC and FPCAF in Supreme Court Brief

Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) announced the filing of an important brief with the United States Supreme Court in the case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which FPC and FPCAF ask the Supreme Court to overrule the deference doctrine the Court established in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The brief can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

Chevron deference, as it has come to be known, requires a court to defer to an executive branch agency’s interpretation of federal law, even if that interpretation is not the best interpretation of the law. This doctrine has allowed federal executive branch agencies, such as the ATF, to run wild, unchecked by either Congress or the courts. Ending Chevron deference will help ensure that courts can better check federal executive branch power.

“Chevron violates Article III by transferring from the judiciary to the executive the ultimate interpretative authority to say what the law is,” argues the brief. “It violates Article I by incentivizing Congress to abdicate its legislative duties and delegate legislative authority to the executive. As a result, Chevron accumulates legislative, executive, and judicial powers in a single branch of government—which the Founders considered the very definition of tyranny.”

“The Framers of our Constitution learned from thousands of years of human experience that governments with power concentrated in one body are unsustainable and often tyrannical,” said FPCAF’s Director of Constitutional Studies, Joseph Greenlee. “The Framers, therefore, separated the legislative, executive, and judicial functions in our Constitution to prevent tyranny and safeguard our liberties. Chevron deference undoes this deliberate design, paving the way for abusive governance. We’re hopeful that the Court will use this opportunity to overrule Chevron and restore the Founders’ design.”…