What does a major oil company have to do with homeschooling? Well, not much, aside from providing gas to fuel the minivan for daily family errands or the next educational adventure.
However, a rule known as “Chevron deference” (yes, named for the oil company) has a lot to do with how the federal government operates.
Chevron deference was born out of Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, a 1984 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that lower courts should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute as long as that interpretation is reasonable. As a result, agencies were granted almost unchecked power to interpret statutes however they see fit. And it’s not as if the issue of ambiguous statues is a rare occurrence; Chevron deference is the most-cited court precedent in all of administrative law.
For decades, this rule has allowed for agency autonomy and, oftentimes, damaging overreach. And anytime the federal government has unchecked power, there’s a threat to the rights and liberties of all Americans, including the freedom of education. But the Supreme Court now has the opportunity to overturn this unnecessary precedent.
The Schoolhouse Rock version of the American government (which, incidentally, is also the one set up by the Constitution) looks something like this:
- Congress deliberates until it comes up with a law that the majority of legislators approve on.
- After they vote on it, the law then goes to the executive branch, whose sole role is to enforce said law.
- Whenever there is any confusion about the law, the court steps in and solves any disagreements and ambiguities.
Three distinct jobs handled by three distinct branches of government.
As homeschool activists, you’ve probably heard all of this before: this is Civics 101. Unfortunately, we’re writing this Capitol Report because that three-step process isn’t how our government usually operates. And while Chevron deference can’t take all of the blame, it does deserve a lot of it.
However, the Supreme Court just announced that they would be hearing arguments on a case that explicitly asks the court to overturn Chevron deference.
The case is being brought by a group of commercial fishing companies from New Jersey who believe they’ve been unjustly financially burdened by a federal agency. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a rule that requires the fishing industry to pay for the costs of observers to be present on boats so that they can monitor compliance with fishery management plans. However, while federal law states that NMFS can require the placement of such observers, it does not stipulate who has to pay for these monitors. The fishing companies argue that it is not fair for them to be required to foot the bill and that this is an overreach by the NMFS that hurts their business.
While this is about the niche industry of New Jersey fishermen, Chevron deference has been applied in nearly every policy arena. An example of this in the education sphere is the recent reinterpretation of Title IX. Title IX states “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” The Department of Education recently invoked Chevron in a rule that reinterprets Title IX to include discrimination based on gender identity, not just biological sex.
The issue of Chevron deference is not a partisan one, as both Republican and Democrat administrations have used it to accomplish their policy agendas. Instead, it’s a matter of good governance, of the three branches of American government operating as they were meant to. Chevron deference grants the executive branch not just the power to enforce, but also the power to legislate rules and interpret laws. It combines the jobs of the three branches into one, undermining the system of checks and balances built into our system.
So no, Chevron the oil company doesn’t have a direct tie to homeschooling. But unchecked government power is a threat to liberty and freedom. If the Supreme Court chooses to overturn Chevron and restore proper limits to the executive branch, that will be a victory for all Americans.