Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1984 Chevron decision, federal courts have typically applied a two-step analysis known as the “Chevron framework” to determine whether a court should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute. SCOTUS has now agreed to hear the Loper case next Term in which the continued viability of the Chevron framework is being directly challenged. We first discuss the origins of the concept of judicial deference to federal agencies and the Chevron decision. We then discuss the background of the Loper See more +

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1984 Chevron decision, federal courts have typically applied a two-step analysis known as the “Chevron framework” to determine whether a court should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute. SCOTUS has now agreed to hear the Loper case next Term in which the continued viability of the Chevron framework is being directly challenged. We first discuss the origins of the concept of judicial deference to federal agencies and the Chevron decision. We then discuss the background of the Loper case, the two recent SCOTUS decisions rejecting EPA interpretations, what the decisions could mean for challenges to CFPB and FTC regulations, what the decisions signal for how the Justices will rule in Loper, and possible outcomes in Loper. We conclude by considering the potential impact on federal agencies of a SCOTUS decision overruling Chevron, including the potential retroactive effect of such a decision.

Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel in Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group, hosts the conversation. See less -