Navigating uncharted waters: Congress aligns with SCOTUS in reshaping the administrative state

Since the publication of "The Project 2025 Mandate: Implications for the Administrative State and the U.S. Constitution" on July 19, 2024, my continuing research on the topic has informed me that the legal and regulatory landscape relating to the American governance "Administrative State" has undergone and continues to undergo seismic shifts. The Supreme Court's Loper Bright Enterprises decision has further etched the design first outlined in the Project 2025 Mandate (the 2025 Mandate), which is now stealthily moving through the halls of Congress as members enact and debate measures in line with or as a countermeasure to this pivotal decision while the mainstream media focuses on some of the more trivial aspects of the upcoming Presidential election. For example, the great debate over Vice President Kamala Harris's race and/or whether during his 24 years of service in the Army National Guard, Governor Tim Walz has ever been deployed to a combat zone.

Our legal system as the catalyst for the realization of the political right's 50-year passion project:

The Loper Bright Enterprises decision by the Supreme Court marks a cornerstone in American jurisprudence, embodying the spirit of the 2025 Mandate by curtailing the delegated authority of administrative agencies - a step towards the 2025 Mandate's vision of a restrained administrative state and enhanced congressional rule-making prerogative as seen through a federal court judge's lens.

In my July 19 Daily Journal article, I discussed the underpinnings of the 2025 Mandate and its implications. Today, we witness its doctrines echoed in legislative actions, with the Houses of Congress actively adopting stances for and against the Court's decision, signaling a legislative acknowledgment that the balance of power in running the day-to-day operations of the various federal agencies we all depend on is indeed shifting.

On the supporting side, Senate Republicans have initiated a comprehensive review of all Executive Branch agencies regulatory frameworks, (See https://www.schmitt.senate.gov/media/press-releases/following-scotus-decision-in-loper-bright-senator-schmitt-leads-his-colleagues-in-launching-working-group-filing-legislation-to-reclaim-legislative-power-and-navigate-a-post-chevron-world/) with legislation seeking to redefine the constitutional relationships between the branches of government. Senator Eric Schmitt's Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA) is a testament to this endeavor, aiming to reclaim congressional authority by codifying a de novo standard of judicial review in place of Chevron deference. (See the text of the SOPR here, and See the letter Senator Schmitt's working group sent to HHS Secretary Becerra and the other 101 federal agencies that have published any agency rules since 2000 here.)

Moreover, a suite of bills like the Sunset Chevron Act (See the text of H.R. 8889 here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8889/text) proposes a systematic deactivation of agency rules established under the abrogated doctrine, methodically aligning federal regulations with the founding tenets underscored in the 2025 Mandate.

Conversely, opposition materializes in proposals like Senator Elizabeth Warren's Stop Corporate Capture Act (SCCA), (See the text of the SCCA here: Bill Text (PDF) | Section-by-Section (PDF) | Bill Two-Pager (PDF)), which seeks to encode Chevron deference and fortify the regulatory process against corporate sway. (https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-leads-senate-response-to-end-of-chevron-doctrine.) This resistance fronts a legislative countercurrent, defending the interpretative autonomy of federal agencies to execute their mandates amidst evolving socio-economic contexts.

Conclusion:

The confluence of the Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises and Congressional actions symbolizes a significant reclamation movement, resonating with and advancing the objectives of the Project 2025 Mandate. While lawmakers continue to debate and delineate the contours of agency regulatory authority, what's unmistakable is an emerging consensus within certain Congressional factions that reinforces the Court's stance - a harmony that exemplifies the very recalibration of federal powers envisioned so passionately in the text of the 2025 Mandate. The fortitude of this alignment, for better or worse, portends profound ramifications not just on governance and law, but the tapestry of American life itself. 

With all due respect to Aristotle; we and he in spirit are bearing witness to the fact that the creation of our laws of late is not necessarily based on "reason free from passion" anymore.