Federal agencies create rules, called regulations, that implement laws. Last month, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on two combined cases, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce. We condemned this decision because it will change the way courts review regulations and decide if they should be overturned. The Court stopped using a decades-old legal principle known as Chevron deference. Chevron deference meant that, when a law was ambiguous, courts would accept what federal agencies said it meant in their regulations within reason. The legal standards that will be used going forward will likely mean more court interference with public policy.
The end of Chevron will affect all of society because federal regulations touch everything from food safety and environmental justice to student loans and consumer protection. It will be especially consequential for marginalized people, including the disability community. It is already having devastating effects on LGBTQIA people. Our legal memo, “The End of Chevron Deference and the Disability Community: New Obstacles to Advocacy and Wellbeing,” explains the potential outcomes of this Supreme Court decision and what we think this means for disabled people.
ASAN will fight to safeguard federal agencies’ ability to protect the people we serve. We will continue to do what we always have: defend the rights, health, services, safety, and well-being of all people with disabilities.