I recently wrote on that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a 40-year-old precedent known as the Chevron doctrine. Under the Chevron doctrine, the courts were advised to defer to executive branch agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous provisions in statutes. The court ruled that was its exclusive role.
I suggested the court’s opinion should be a wakeup call for Congress to be more conscientious and precise in its enactments to avoid either the executive or judicial branches usurping its lawmaking functions.
That same week, on three consecutive days (July 9-11), the House flexed its anti-over-regulatory chops by passing three measures disapproving executive agency regulations ranging from women’s rights to home appliance energy standards.
Then, on the final day, the House turned around and voted 205-213 to defeat its own funding bill for fiscal 2025, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act. Ten Republicans and all but three Democrats voted against the measure. To say the House was sending mixed signals as to its self-worth as an institution would be an understatement, though the 15 members who did not vote might have produced a different result. Some leaders are still puzzling over why the House would bite the hand that feeds it — which is to say, its own hand.
The........