Parker: Does Chevron’s decision solve the problem of big government?

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled to overturn the Chevron Doctrine precedent that had stood since 1984.

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Some recent reversals of precedent, such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade, have attracted more attention. But this change is so significant that everyone should know what it means.

In the 1984 Chevron decision, an environmental group called the Natural Resources Defense Council sued to overturn a Reagan-era EPA decision to relax emissions regulations. The court upheld the EPA’s decision, reasoning that unless Congress has resolved a controversial point, a federal agency’s interpretation of a regulation should stand.

In the years following the ruling, the growth of federal agency power caused great concern, with many believing that the executive branch, including federal agencies, had usurped the legislative power of Congress and the judicial power of the courts.

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According to Scotusblog.com, the Chevron decision has been cited more than 18,000 times in federal courts.

In reality, the scope and power of unelected bureaucrats over citizens’ private lives has increased dramatically over the years.

According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in 2023, federal agencies issued 3,018 final rules with legal force, while Congress passed only 68 bills that became law.

CEI estimates that regulatory costs are $2.1 trillion per year, 2.5 times the U.S. defense budget.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has just published a new book titled Overdetermination: The Human Toll of Too Much Law.

Gorsuch estimates that the number of federal criminal records in the United States has doubled since 1970. According to the book, the U.S. statutory law is 60,000 pages long, with another 188,000 pages of regulations, costing Americans 9.8 billion hours of paperwork each year.

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The Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge by two fishing companies to a rule issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The court upheld the challenge, overturning Chevron’s ruling.

In his ruling, Judge John Roberts noted that the Chevron precedent was inconsistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, which provides that it is the responsibility of the courts, not the federal agencies, to decide whether an agency has correctly interpreted a statute.

Justice Clarence Thomas said the Chevron doctrine was an affront to the constitutional division of powers among the three branches of government, giving the executive branch “the power to exercise powers not delegated to it.”

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Don’t forget that the vision of the American founders was to build a free nation. But no matter how well the Constitution is written and how it limits government, it is ultimately humans who make, enforce, and interpret the laws.

The outcome depends on the individual who does it all.

In 2010, Congress passed Obamacare without a single Republican vote, and the new law was sent to the Department of Health and Human Services for implementation. The provision required health care providers to include preventive care in their plans, which necessarily required a definition of “preventive care.” HHS included birth control, contraception, and sterilization in the definition.

In 2015, the Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. How can we let judges define what marriage is?

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The Constitution’s preamble states that its purpose is to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

But as faith has declined, government has become the new religion. When citizens want the government to run their lives, the Constitution will be interpreted to accommodate that.

In 1965, 70% of people said religion was “very important” in their lives, and that year the government consumed 15.9% of GDP.

In 2023, 45% of people said religion was “very important” in their lives, and the government consumed 22.4% of GDP.

We might say that the cost of big government is the price we pay for being a pagan society.

— Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show, Heal America with Star Parker. Her most recent book, What is America’s cure? Now available.

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