Restoring Chevron Deference by Statute

Abstract

This paper details a solution for legislatively restoring Chevron: amend the APA to direct lower federal courts to give deference to reasonable agency decisions but retain nondeferential judicial review by the U.S. Supreme Court. This solution restores most of the practical benefits of Chevron by giving agencies flexibility to implement congressional policy directives with the expertise they have acquired, by maintaining stability in administrative regulation, and by relieving lower federal courts of the burdens of nondeferential review. And retaining nondeferential judicial review in the Supreme Court will preserve the constitutional role of the judicial branch to say what the law is while supplying a backstop against agency overreach.

Keywords: chevron, loper bright, administrative law, aedpa, deference, agency deference