Supreme Court Chevron Decision: California’s Regulation Empire Untouched

The Supreme Court’s 6–2 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which ended the Chevron precedent, sparked something like hysterical vomiting among California reporters and columnists and progressive legal scholars. “An earthquake in U.S. law,” attorney Michael Wara, director of Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program, called it. In Loper, the Court “displayed an alarming willingness to dismiss scientific expertise out of hand, in favor of partisan or religious ideologies,” cried a predictably partisan Los Angeles Times business writer. The decision is “a big win for business,” bemoaned another L.A. Times business writer, who took care to note that the Court majority comprises “Republican appointees” who “fretted about the ‘administrative state.’”

But when their stomachs ceased to bubble and churn, when their eyes stopped watering, some espied a silver lining: Because the Court’s decision in Loper applies only to federal — not state — agencies, California’s own Ottoman regulatory state can maintain its nearly total sovereignty and operate as an island in the land. And lest you think yourself safe in the Midwest or the South, consider this: California is politically powerful on the national scene, and the state’s 200 rogue agencies will continue to shape policy all over America — and, by extension, all over the world.

About the Author

Will Swaim

Will Swaim is the CEO of the California Policy Center and, with David L. Bahnsen, a co-host of National Review’s Radio Free California podcast.

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The Supreme Court’s 6–2 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which ended the Chevron precedent, sparked something like hysterical vomiting among California reporters and columnists and progressive legal scholars. “An earthquake in U.S. law,” attorney Michael Wara, director of Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program, called it. In Loper, the Court “displayed an alarming willingness to dismiss scientific expertise out of hand, in favor of partisan or religious ideologies,” cried a predictably partisan Los Angeles Times business writer. The decision is “a big win for business,” bemoaned another L.A. Times business writer, who took care to note that the Court majority comprises “Republican appointees” who “fretted about the ‘administrative state.’”

But when their stomachs ceased to bubble and churn, when their eyes stopped watering, some espied a silver lining: Because the Court’s decision in Loper applies only to federal — not state — agencies, California’s own Ottoman regulatory state can maintain its nearly total sovereignty and operate as an island in the land. And lest you think yourself safe in the Midwest or the South, consider this: California is politically powerful on the national scene, and the state’s 200 rogue agencies will continue to shape policy all over America — and, by extension, all over the world.