Loper v. Raimondo is the first blow in smashing the administrative state, so we are told, but I wonder whether the "nattering nabobs" actually read C. J. Robert's opinion. Actually, I know they haven't because I found it awfully hard going myself and I know something about administrative law. I'm not going to urge everyone to read the opinion because it isn't really necessary. Just read the almost equally tedious and technical syllabus. The Supreme Court decided to abrogate a fairly long standing technique for determining what Congres meant for a federal agency to do. That's all. For the last forty years or so, federal courts were supposed to defer to an agency's interpretation of its own authority under the statute that created it where there was any real doubt. Now, the court will decide for itself what authority Congress granted the agency. Believe me. They always have. Courts decide the law and no agency can bind a judge.
