Mr. President, I rise today deeply concerned that the far-right majority on the Supreme Court is preparing to sow further chaos in our country. Any day now, the Court is expected to rule on two cases pertaining to the Chevron doctrine, a 40-year-old doctrine with roots that go back to our country's founding that is critical to a functioning Federal Government. The Chevron doctrine is pretty simple. It recognizes that Congress delegates authority to technical experts at Federal Agencies so that those Agencies can effectively and efficiently implement Federal laws in their areas of expertise in line with congressional intent. As a result, for nearly four decades, courts generally have deferred to reasonable interpretations by administrative Agencies where the law is unclear or ambiguous. In fact, before 1984, lower court judges were criticized for overriding agency experts and imposing their own policy views. That is why the Court handed down the Chevron decision in the first place. The Chevron doctrine was originally favored by conservative judges, including the conservative majority on the Supreme Court during the Reagan administration who viewed it as a check against judicial activism. In recent years, however, many on the right have turned against the Chevron doctrine, viewing it as an impediment to their efforts to consolidate power and enable far-right judges to legislate from the bench.…
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