Editorial Roundup: United States

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: Jan. 21 The Washington Post on SCOTUS, “Chevron deference” To hear some describe the stakes, a pair of cases argued before the Supreme Court on Wednesday could create a watershed moment in American government. Business lobbies and conservative activists see an opportunity to restrain an out-of-control “administrative state.” Progressives fear the court will render the federal government incapable of responding to modern challenges from climate change to artificial intelligence. At issue is a deceptively arcane matter: who gets to interpret the law when Congress leaves it ambiguous as it often does, sometimes inexcusably, but sometimes unavoidably. The current rule, called “Chevron deference” — after the 1984 case in which the court developed it — instructs judges to uphold challenged regulations as long as they reflect an agency’s “reasonable” reading of a genuinely ambiguous law. Agencies, the logic goes, have more...