Supreme Court's E.P.A. Ruling Shifts More Power Away From Congress

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON — On the last day of a turbulent term that included rulings on what the Constitution has to say about abortion, guns and religion, the Supreme Court issued another sort of decision, one that turned on the words of the Clean Air Act.

Without “clear congressional authorization,” the court said, the Environmental Protection Agency was powerless to aggressively address climate change. In years past, that might have been the start of a dialogue with Congress, which after all has the last word on what statutes mean, because it can always pass new ones.

But thanks to legislative gridlock, Congress very seldom responds these days to Supreme Court decisions interpreting its statutes — and that means the balance of power between the branches has shifted, with the justices ascendant.

The consequences have been especially stark in Supreme Court rulings on global emergencies like climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, but the phenomenon is a general one. Congress has largely fallen silent as a partisan stalemate has gripped Capitol Hill, aggravated by the increased use of the filibuster, which has blocked almost all major legislation in an evenly divided Senate. The upshot is a more dominant court.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/supreme-court-s-e-p-a-ruling-shifts-more-power-away-from-congress/ar-AAZ7iOq

[sakabatou]

1. God, it's going to turn into the Articles of Confederation.

[FBaggins]

2. I don't see that

Last edited Sun Jul 3, 2022, 07:45 AM - Edit history (3)

They very explicitly transferred power from the executive to the legislature (or back to the legislature if you prefer).

Congress could be seen as having “less power” now than at times in the past, but that’s because of the tiniest majorities in history. Congress has the clear power to fix (for instance) the EPA ruling by explicitly giving them the power to regulate as they did. Saying that we don’t have the votes is true… but isn’t the same thing as Congress not having the power.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

3. Congress is allowing the SCOTUS to walk all over them.

This is absurd. Congress is a co-equal branch of government and yet they are allowing the court to just run over them. They need to stand up and take back their power. The court is acting like they are the ones making legislative decisions. NO ONE on the court is an environmental expert, a medical expert, scientific expert. Congress has staff that are specialists in these areas. STOP the power grab that the court is undertaking. This is the very definition of an activist court.

If Congress does NOT take the steps they are entitled by the law to take, to make the decisions they are entitled by the Constitution then they deserve to be sidelined, but we DON'T deserve that. Call your Congress critters - you pay their salary, don't EVER forget that - and tell them to stand up on their hind legs, find their spines and get busy.

[UTUSN]

4. K& big R#5