WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, Co-founder, President, and CEO, issued the following statement in connection with the release of an analysis on the Recent Supreme Court Decisions and Their Harmful Impact on Main Street Americans.
“The Supreme Court ended its 2023-2024 term with three exceptionally damaging decisions that undermine the ability of the government to protect the public from a wide range of threats to their health, safety, welfare, and financial well-being. While individually important, these cases also need to be viewed with several other lines of cases. Together, they form a mosaic of related Supreme Court decisions that will synergistically interact to put virtually all Americans at greater risk from the powerful, wealthy, and well-connected. That’s because the decisions limit regulatory agencies’ authority to protect financial consumers, investors, markets, the financial system, and the economy from predators, lawbreakers, and criminals.
“The result is likely going to be a very significant reordering of the relationship among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, as well as the relationship between the government and the American people. These decisions will disempower the executive branch and empower the judicial branch. As a result, the ability of the government to protect Americans by limiting and policing predatory, illegal, and anti-social conduct wherever it occurs (i.e., health care, environment, food and product safety, tech, education, or the financial sector) will be severely circumscribed.
“Although the cases were focused on rulemaking (or agency enforcement), the message, signal, and direction of the Court are not so narrow. The 6-3 conservative majority is sending a loud and clear message that they are serious about dismantling the so-called ‘administrative state.’ They are saying that the courts alone will decide what a statute means, and what the Congress can and cannot delegate, in part by aggressively applying the separation of powers doctrine. As Justice Kagan pointed out in her Loper Bright dissent, this conservative majority is turning the Supreme Court into ‘the country’s administrative czar,’ no matter how unqualified it is to fill that role.
“In our analysis, we review the three most recent cases and the effects they will have on agency rules being challenged in court. The Loper Bright decision overruled the Chevron case and ended judicial deference to the expertise of the regulatory agencies. The Jarkesy decision greatly limited SEC administrative enforcement proceedings and will impact administrative enforcement authority at other agencies as well. And the Corner Post decision eliminated the general six-year time limitation to file a case in court to have a rule thrown out, creating an avenue to challenge almost any rule no matter how old. Whether these cases will usher in a new Lochner era or not, their impact will be widespread and deep.”
The Analysis is available here.
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.
