Attorney General Chris Carr has expressed approval of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn the Chevron doctrine. Carr, who previously submitted an amicus brief in the case Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, had urged the Court to overrule the Chevron doctrine.
“Today’s decision overruling the Chevron doctrine reaffirms what we have argued all along – federal agencies do not have the authority to create new laws,” said Carr. “For far too long, unelected Washington bureaucrats have continued to impose costly regulations on honest, hardworking Americans. We fought back, and we’re proud to have helped secure this major victory for the people of Georgia.”
Chevron deference mandated that courts defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous federal statute, even if a court believed that interpretation was not the most faithful reading of the statute. This allowed federal agencies to expand their authority without Congressional approval whenever statutes were unclear.
The case Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo involves a regulation by the National Marine Fisheries Service requiring herring fishing boats to carry an additional monitor onboard at their own expense—approximately $700 per day—to ensure compliance with federal regulations.
Lower courts upheld this requirement under Chevron deference despite statutory ambiguity regarding authorization for such costs. The fisheries subsequently appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for relief.
Read a copy of the Supreme Court’s opinion here. Find Carr’s statement as posted on social media here.
[email protected]