Skip to content Skip to footer

Warren Introduces Bill Effectively Overturning Extremist SCOTUS “Chevron” Ruling

The far right court handed a major win to corporate and right-wing interests in their “Chevron” ruling last month.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren questions former executives of failed banks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill May 16, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

A group of senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has introduced a bill to combat the Supreme Court’s seismic pro-corporate decision last month to overturn a precedent known as Chevron deference that has enabled federal agencies to issue regulations for decades.

Ten senators joined Warren on Tuesday in introducing the bill that would codify the Chevron doctrine and reform regulatory processes to make them more transparent and streamlined.

For four decades, judges have cited Chevron deference in allowing agencies and their experts to interpret laws to make rules regarding a wide range of topics, including labor rights, environmental protections, public health, food safety, and more. Ensuring that Chevron, which has been cited in over 19,000 judicial opinions, is law would prevent what experts said will be years of corporations suing to overturn a wide swath of regulations that protect the public and cut into profits.

On top of codifying Chevron, the bill would create an office to give the public more participation in agencies’ rule proposals and mandate that agencies respond to public petitions on rules that garner at least 100,000 signatures. It would also create a time limit for regulatory review and expand the parameters that agencies must use in cost-benefit calculations for a rule to include less quantifiable characteristics like combating discrimination.

“Giant corporations are using far-right, unelected judges to hijack our government and undermine the will of Congress,” Warren said in a statement. “The Stop Corporate Capture Act will bring transparency and efficiency to the federal rulemaking process, and most importantly, will make sure corporate interest groups can’t substitute their preferences for the judgment of Congress and the expert agencies.”

The bill was originally introduced in 2021 by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington). Right-wing and corporate interests have worked for many years to overturn Chevron, including by lobbying conservative justices on the subject. The Supreme Court decision last month was a major win for these groups.

The bill has been cosponsored by prominent lawmakers like Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) as well as dozens of advocacy organizations and labor unions like the AFL-CIO and UAW. The groups, whose specializations range across a wide variety of topics, say that the Supreme Court decision severely tilts the scales of power toward corporations who can now essentially pollute, abuse consumers, and more, challenging regulations made to protect the public.

“In striking down Chevron, the Supreme Court continued the trend toward transforming unaccountable judges into politicians with robes — unelected legislators and policymakers,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), one of the bill’s sponsors. “Our measure is vital to preserving expert regulation and oversight, accountable to elected representatives, and preventing giant corporations and wealthy titans from exploiting power.”

The bill is just one of several measures Democrats have taken in recent weeks to combat a slew of extremist Supreme Court decisions. Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said that Democrats are preparing legislation to combat the Supreme Court’s extremist presidential immunity decision that would ensure that Donald Trump can be prosecuted for his role in stoking the attempted coup on January 6, 2021.

Other Democrats have taken even stronger moves to combat the unprecedented corruption on the court. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) filed articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito earlier this month, saying that both of them have clearly been incentivized by special interests to issue rulings favoring conservatives and the far right.

Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.

Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.

Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.

As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.

And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.

In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.

We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.

We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $150,000 in one-time donations and to add 1,500 new monthly donors.

Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.

If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!

With gratitude and resolve,

Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy