AFT’s Weingarten Responds to Supreme Court Decision Limiting Chevron Doctrine

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo gutted key aspects of the Chevron doctrine—which says courts should defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute—making it harder for federal agencies to protect the public, the mission given to them by Congress under the law.  

“The Supreme Court’s shameful decision turns democracy on its head. It fundamentally changes the role of unelected judges from interpreters of law to makers of law—and there is nothing in the Constitution that warrants that. By eliminating deference to public agencies, the court has undermined the ability of experts to set strong rules to protect consumers, workers and the public from corporations and other lawbreakers. 

“This decision has real-life consequences for American families. It shifts power away from agencies with public-focused missions toward courtrooms and corporate lawyers adept at poking holes in regulations. It injects legal uncertainty into areas like workplace safety rules, overtime pay policies and collective bargaining rights interpretations—all of which have long relied on agencies’ Chevron-backed expertise. It will make it easier for employers to steal wages from their workers, and it could stop the Department of Health and Human Services from directly negotiating prescription drug prices for Medicare. 

“Given this cataclysm, Congress should urgently enact Chevron deference into law by passing the Stop Corporate Capture Act (H.R. 1507), a comprehensive blueprint for modernizing, improving and strengthening the regulatory system. That would ensure public input into regulatory decisions, promote scientific integrity and restore our government’s ability to help the workers and consumers it is meant to serve.”