BY: TIM CARPENTER, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Former Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt lauded Friday a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to restrict authority of federal government agencies to assume a prominent role in interpretating ambiguous laws rather than depending on Congress to fill the gaps.
Schmidt, a Republican candidate in for the U.S. House in the 2nd District, said overturning a 40-year precedent was “a victory for accountability in government” and an important restraint on “unelected bureaucrats.”
As attorney general, he signed onto a brief supported by officials in more than a dozen states urging the Supreme Court to upend the “Chevron doctrine” that directed judges to give deference to reasonable interpretations offered by federal agencies when Congress failed to clearly define how to administer a law. Under the 1984 doctrine, judges were to yield to agency experts when assessing regulations tied to federal statute.
“When I served as Kansas attorney general,” Schmidt said, “I asked the Supreme Court to take up the case.”
He said his campaign to fill the eastern Kansas congressional seat to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Kansas, was in part a fight against the “intrusion of big government into our lives.”
The 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court would “strengthen the ability of Congress and our independent judiciary to stand up for liberty and government accountability,” Schmidt said.
Supporters of the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council doctrine argued the decision would undermine federal regulation of consumer products, transportation systems, the environment and an array of other sectors of the federal government.
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent said a “longstanding precedent at the crux of administrative governance thus falls victim to a bald assertion of judicial authority. The majority disdains restraint, and grasps for power.”
The ruling wouldn’t automatically nullify court decisions associated with the Chevron doctrine. However, the opinion said, courts in the future wouldn’t have to defer to agency interpretations when determining whether policies complied with the federal law.
The Supreme Court’s action was driven by legal challenges by fishermen who objected to federal policy mandating payment of $700 daily fees to carry federal monitors on their boats.
GOP candidates in the 2nd District contest include Schmidt, former Brownback and Trump administration official Jeff Kahrs, Michael Ogle, Shawn Tiffany and Chad Young. Candidates for the Democratic Party’s nomination are Matt Kleinmann and former U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda. The Libertarian Party nominee is John Hauer.