In wake of reckless Loper Bright decision, new Wyden legislation would restore much-needed checks on radical Trump-era judges
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today announced new legislation to restore much-needed checks on Donald Trump’s radical right-wing Supreme Court by providing Congress with new authority to overturn judicial decisions that clearly undermine the congressional intent of laws. The Restoring Congressional Authority Act would also restore the ability of public agencies to implement laws passed by Congress without fear of unreasonable interference by radical right-wing judges.
“At every turn, MAGA judges are hellbent on dragging our country backwards,” said Wyden. “With the help of Republicans in Congress, Donald Trump spent his time in office packing our nation’s highest courts with right-wing extremists willing to legislate from the bench. From the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies to health care, the climate crisis, and everything in between, these MAGA judges are doing the bidding of special interests who want to rip away our fundamental freedoms. Our country is founded on checks and balances, and it’s time to restore that balance by putting a much-needed check on the federal judiciary.”
Wyden’s bill follows the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled the Chevron deference precedent, undermining congressional authority and the executive branch’s power to use its expertise to implement and enforce laws passed by Congress. The Chevron ruling earlier this year is further evidence of the far-right’s judicial court-packing strategy to take away fundamental freedoms by emboldening judges to legislate from the bench.
Wyden’s Restoring Congressional Authority Act would:
● Amend Section 706 of the Administrative Procedure Act to codify judicial deference to public agencies as they implement federal laws;
● Require courts to consider congressional intent when reviewing the reasonableness of an agency’s interpretation of a statutory provision and define how congressional intent will be expressed; and
● Provide an identical timeframe as the Congressional Review Act for a new fast-track mechanism for Congress to overturn decisions by appellate courts to invalidate an agency rule based on a determination that the agency’s interpretation of the statutory provision was not reasonable.
Last year, as part of his ongoing efforts to reform and restore fairness to our country’s judicial system, Wyden also introduced legislation to bring an end to the controversial practice of “judge-shopping,” in which plaintiffs cherry-pick judges they know will hand down favorable rulings, leading to sweeping rulings that wield undue power over millions of Americans.
A one-pager on the legislation is here.
Bill text is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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