August 9, 2023 — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers recently joined counterparts in 26 other states, including New Hampshire, in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn or clarify a legal precedent that could have major implications for federal regulatory authority.
Nebraska was one of 27 states that joined a July 24 filing to the Supreme Court regarding the deference that should be afforded to federal agencies when interpreting ambiguous or silent language passed by Congress. Known as the Chevron deference, the legal doctrine requires courts to defer to reasonable agency interpretation when regulatory authority is ambiguous.
The joint brief argues that Chevron has been “abused and manipulated,” allowing federal agencies to “run amok,” and contends the court should overrule or at least clarify Chevron when it decides Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (named after Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo), in its next term. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself from the case.
The case deals with the National Marine Fisheries Service and a regulation that requires fishing companies to have an additional person on fishing boats to track regulatory compliance. Companies must pay the monitor’s salary.
Hilgers, in a July 25 statement, said the U.S. Constitution lays out three branches of government, not four, and leaves legislative power to elected representatives, “not unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats.”
“Overturning Chevron is a critical step to restoring the Constitution’s protection against the unaccountable use of power and will help save Nebraskans from an endless number of regulations and burdens,” Hilgers said.