Congress moves to kill Chevron deference, handing courts power over agency rules

What it does

This bill amends the Administrative Procedure Act to require federal courts to review agency interpretations of law from scratch ('de novo') rather than deferring to agency expertise under the Chevron doctrine. It strips away the current judicial deference standard and mandates that courts independently decide all questions of law, including how agencies interpret statutes and regulations, and makes this standard apply to all agency actions unless a law explicitly exempts itself by name.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to dismantle Chevron deference—a foundational doctrine that has governed judicial review of agency action for 40 years. It does this by amending § 706 of the APA to mandate de novo review and strip away the current language that permits courts to defer to reasonable agency interpretations.

What the text implies

• Eliminates Chevron deference without naming it, making the bill's true target opaque to non-expert readers; the title 'Separation of Powers Restoration' does not signal the specific doctrine being overturned.
• The 'notwithstanding' clause and exemption-by-explicit-reference language create a new statutory carve-out mechanism: any future law that wants to preserve deference must name this section explicitly, raising the bar for legislative intent and potentially invalidating older statutes that did not anticipate this requirement.

The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.

Who stands to gain

litigation-heavy industries (energy, finance, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications); law firms specializing in administrative law and regulatory challenges; trade associations and business groups that challenge agency rules