CHRIS JANSING (HOST) : There is another decision today by the Supreme Court. You probably, like most of us, Barbara, know it colloquially as the Chevron case. It’s what, 40 years old, dating back to 1984. It has long, long been a target of conservatives. It involves the rights of businesses, as they see it. Tell us about Chevron and the importance of overturning this long-time precedence.
BARBARA MCQUADE (MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST): This is really an attack not only on the working class, but also on career professionals in government who develop expertise in their field. “Chevron deference” meant that when an administrative agency interprets a rule, as it must, Congress delegates to administrative agencies all kinds of rule-making authority. And that these agencies are entitled to interpret their own rules that they made. So, for decades, courts have given deference to those interpretations. That doesn't mean they are binding. They may be overturned. But as long as they are reasonable interpretations of those rules, they get deference to those rules.
Today, you know, as part of this idea to dismantle the administrative state, the Court has overturned that deference. And it’s just going to make it that much harder for agencies like the EPA and OSHA, and other organizations that protect ordinary Americans and consumers, from protecting the public against the interests of big business. Big business, of course, is, you know, the business of business is business. They will spew carcinogens into the air. They will taint our waters. They will have unsafe working conditions because they will no longer have deference to these rules that these administrative agencies have set forth. So, this is actually among, you know, legal watchers of government and administrative agencies, a really significant decision. It’s a real blow to the career professional civil service.
