The Supreme Court has knocked the underpinnings out from under the federal courts’ traditional “Chevron” deference to agency interpretations of unclear statutes, which means it will be harder for the Federal Communications Commission to defend its regulatory decisions — like the return of network neutrality rules, for example — against legal challenges.
The court's conservative majority held that the Administrative Procedures Act “requires courts to exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.”
