The US Supreme Court on March 26 will hear a major challenge to a multi-billion-dollar fund that could further curb the authority of federal agencies.
The justices on Monday released their latest argument calendar of nine cases, which includes FCC v. Consumers’ Research and SHLB Coalition v. Consumers’ Research. Both cases appeal a federal appellate ruling that struck down an $8 billion fund intended to enhance phone and broadband services in poor and rural communities.
The court in recent terms has cut back on the power of administrative agencies, most notably in last term’s Loper Bright decision overturning the decades-old Chevron doctrine that required courts to generally defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute.
The argument sitting runs from March 24 to April 2. The cases to be heard March 26 provide the justices with a new path to constrain agencies through the so-called nondelegation doctrine. That judge-made principle limits how and when Congress can delegate its lawmaking authority to administrative agencies.
During the sitting, the justices will also hear a trio of “venue” cases, challenging EPA actions under the Clean Air Act.
The question in all three cases—Oklahoma v. Environmental Protection Agency, PacifiCorp v. Environmental Protection Agency, and Environmental Protection Agency v. Calumet Shreveport Refining, LLC—is whether those challenges must be brought in a national forum, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, or whether they can also be brought in the regional courts of appeals.
There’s increasing scrutiny of so-called judge shopping in which plaintiffs sue in courts where they believe they have a better chance of drawing judges who’d be friendlier to their claims.
Other cases that the justices will hear during the sitting are a pair racial gerrymandering disputes challenging Louisiana congressional districts, a religious rights dispute involving a tax carve-out for religious groups, efforts to sue organizations in the US for terror attacks abroad, and a clash over Medicaid coverage for Planned Parenthood.
The justices will hear one additional two-week argument sitting during April, before wrapping up their term in late June or early July.