SCOTUS Adds New Case to Chevron Doctrine Battle

The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it added a second case to the docket that will likely inform whether it upholds or overturns the controversial Chevron doctrine.

Chevron deference, a judicial doctrine named after a 1984 case involving the oil giant of the same name, is a central part of modern administrative law.

It stipulates that courts should side with government agencies' interpretation of statutes where Congress is silent or "whether the agency's answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute."

The court previously agreed to hear a nearly identical case to the new one addressing the doctrine, Loper Bright Enterprises v. [Commerce Secretary Gina] Raimondo.

Now, the Relentless Inc. v. Department of Commerce case will be heard alongside it in January. Decisions are expected by next summer.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself from the first case, since she served on the judicial panel that initially heard it when she sat on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

However, she will be eligible to contribute to the new case taken up on Friday.

The Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo case involves a herring fishing company fighting against a Department of Commerce regulation that requires it to pay for federal observers aboard its boats.

Relentless v. Department of Commerce surrounds the same regulation and provides a way for Jackson to contribute to the high court's final decision on the doctrine.

The Department of Justice, which is defending the doctrine, has asked the Supreme Court to hold the Relentless case until it decides the first one, according to The Hill.

"Granting review in this case thus would be superfluous and could delay the resolution of Loper Bright," the DOJ wrote, noting that written briefs were already submitted in Loper Bright.

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