June 27, 2025
Please see below for a statement from Andrew Twinamatsiko, director of the Center for Health Policy and the Law, regarding today’s Supreme Court ruling in FCC v. Consumers’ Research:
“Today, the Supreme Court rightly rebuffed an extreme effort to revive the nondelegation doctrine, an outdated doctrine that the Court has not relied upon for nearly 100 years, and allowed the FCC to continue its important work to support access to telephone and high-speed internet services. Today’s decision has important implications for health care too: thanks to this program, millions of seniors, people with disabilities, people in rural areas, low-income individuals, and other underserved communities can continue to access health care through telehealth.
While today’s decision preserves access to vital services, this challenge is part of an ongoing — and often successful — litigation strategy to limit how Congress may rely on administrative agencies to implement its legislative goals. In recent years, the Court has limited deference to agency interpretations of federal statutes and deployed the so-called major questions doctrine to limit agencies’ abilities to leverage their expertise in addressing today’s most pressing challenges — from COVID-19 to climate change.
Today’s decision rejected a revival of the nondelegation doctrine — at least for now. But challenges to agency authority will still be an issue to watch.”
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