After Chevron, GOP targets rules; Dems seek to protect

By Kevin Bogardus | 08/05/2024 04:11 PM EDT

Republicans are hoping to stymie the administration’s environmental justice push. Democrats plan to scrutinize judicial decisions.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.).

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) in February. He is seeking to roll back Biden administration efforts on environmental justice, citing a recent Supreme Court decision. Francis Chung/POLITICO

Democrats and Republicans have offered competing legislation to either bolster or ax rules in the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling that has upended the federal government’s regulatory power.

GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill are targeting energy and environmental regulations they have long despised in the wake of the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision. That ruling ended the Chevron doctrine, which instructed courts to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations in developing rules for ambiguous statutes.

On the other side, Democrats are seeking to reinstitute Chevron, arguing agencies, not judges, have the technical expertise required to craft complex regulations.

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On Friday, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced H.R. 9277, the “Restricting Environmental Gamesmanship (REG) Act.”

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