Warren Bill Would Overturn Supreme Court Decision Undermining Power of Federal Agencies

In response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Sen. Elizabeth Warren said is an example of corporations attempting to “hijack our government,” the Massachusetts Democrat filed legislation on Tuesday to effectively overturn the decision and return regulatory powers to federal agencies.

Warren led a group of Democratic senators in introducing the Stop Corporate Capture Act (SCCA), less than a month after the Supreme Court ruled Runner Bright Enterprises vs Raimondo And Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commercethus overturning the precedent of “Chevron deference” that had been recognized for forty years.

This statutory rule required courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretation of a law if Congress had not passed legislation specifically addressing the problem at hand. It also allowed federal officials to write regulations addressing climate protection, workers’ rights, and other important issues affecting millions of people in the United States.

The
Runner Clear Last month’s ruling, Warren said, made clear that “big corporations are using far-right, unelected judges to… undermine the will of Congress.”

“The Stop Corporate Capture Act will bring transparency and efficiency to the federal regulatory process and, more importantly, ensure that corporate interests can no longer allow their preferences to override the judgment of Congress and expert agencies,” the senator said.

Specific measures the legislation would take include:

• Streamlining the White House’s regulatory review period by establishing a 120-day review period;
• Authorizing agencies to reinstate regulations repealed by Congress through the Congressional Review Act;
• Establishing an Office of the Public Advocate to assist citizens in participating more effectively in regulatory procedures;
• Requiring agencies to respond to citizen petitions for regulations that contain 100,000 or more signatures;
• Imposing financial penalties on special interests of companies that knowingly provide false information during the regulatory process; and
• All regulatory participants are required to disclose industry-funded research or other related conflicts of interest.

Without the Chevron award, Warren’s office said in a statement, “industry-backed lobbyists have more bargaining power in the regulatory process than the general public. They schedule private meetings with regulators, fund bogus scientific studies to submit with public comment, and distort the negative impact of stricter oversight. These actions delay the enforcement of important regulations, and the American people pay the price.”

“The Supreme Court’s overturning of Chevron’s ruling undermines our government’s ability to promote worker safety, ensure clean air and water, and protect consumers,” the statement said.

The bill has been supported by dozens of civil society groups, including the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards (CSS), the Consumer Federation of America, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and Earthjustice.

“The Runner Clear “The decision undermined the ability of expert federal agencies and Congress to address our most pressing environmental and health challenges, and instead handed an inordinate amount of power to judges who lack the deep understanding needed to craft federal regulations,” said Raúl García, vice president of policy and legislative affairs for Earthjustice. “This bill rightly restores a blatant power grab by the U.S. Supreme Court while creating a more transparent and fair federal rulemaking process. We thank Senators for fighting to ensure that expert federal agencies have the power and mandate to protect the people who need it most, not greedy corporations more concerned with their profits.”

Rachel Weintraub, director of CSS, said the legislation is a “comprehensive blueprint for modernizing, improving and strengthening the regulatory system to better protect the public.”

“This bill would expand our government’s ability to deliver for workers, consumers, public health and our environment,” Weintraub said. “And it would level the playing field so that everyday people — not just big corporations — can have their say on potential regulations that affect them.”

Earlier this month, CSS explained how the SCCA would save “our system of public protection” that the Republican Party and the right-wing policy agenda “want to destroy.”

U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives in March 2023, said the bill “could not have been more critical after the ultra-conservative Supreme Court stripped government agencies of their ability to implement and enforce laws they passed.”

“Many Americans are taught in civics that Congress passes a law and that’s it, but the reality is that any major legislation that passes must also be implemented and enforced by the dedicated, nonpartisan experts at our government agencies to become a reality,” Jayapal said. “Too often, this process is driven by corporate lobbyists and special interests who know exactly how to manipulate these processes to benefit their profits at the expense of the public interest… I am proud to lead this bill, which will level the playing field and ensure that laws passed for the people, actually work for the people.”