The fate of federal agencies hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court hears cases testing the extent of their regulatory power. At the center of these cases is a 1984 Supreme Court decision, known as Chevron versus Natural Resources Defense Council, which Justice Neil Gorsuch has previously expressed should be overturned. What makes this case particularly intriguing is the familial connection between Justice Gorsuch and the 1984 decision. Gorsuch's mother, Ann Gorsuch, was the former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and her defiant stance against air and water quality regulations in the early 1980s resulted in her being held in contempt of Congress and ultimately led to her resignation.
The 1984 Chevron decision established that when an ambiguous statute is being enforced by a regulator, judges presiding over related lawsuits should defer to the agency's interpretation of the statute, as long as it is deemed reasonable. This is a common occurrence because Congress often crafts broad statutes while entrusting the details of their implementation to regulatory agencies. The Chevron ruling has become one of the most frequently cited cases in the federal courts and at the Supreme Court.
