DeSantis: Chevron ruling stabilizes separation of powers

Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks on grants for infrastructure projects, the Supreme Court Chevron ruling, and President Joe Biden's debate performance at a news conference in Pensacola on July 1, 2024. (Screenshot via the governor's X livestream)Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday praised a recent Supreme Court ruling that stripped federal agencies of much of their power to create regulatory safeguards, instead giving that power to courts and lawmakers. 

DeSantis argued the opposite of Justice Elena Kagan, who wrote for the minority in the case that removed broad discretion of federal agencies to resolve ambiguity in federal statutes. Kagan said federal agencies should keep their powers because they typically have more accountability and expertise.

DeSantis said those who are upset about the ruling “want to have a rule by unelected, unaccountable, bureaucratic so-called experts. That’s who they think should govern society, and they want to insulate them from any type of accountability.”

DeSantis defended the power of the courts and said the ruling puts separation of powers on a better foundation. 

“There’s a lot of things that this big powerful bureaucracy can do,” like imposing fines, DeSantis said.

“So, the question is, if they’re coming ‘atcha and they’re wrong on the law, do you have an ability to go in the court and have the court say, ‘You know what, you’re right on the law,’ and rule for you and give you relief? Or do you do the Chevron deference which says, ‘Well, it doesn’t really matter if you’re actually right on the law. We are going to defer to what these experts in the bureaucracy think the law means or the regulation should mean.'”

Chevron deference, which had been Supreme Court precedent since 1984, required courts to defer to the reasonable interpretation by technical experts in federal agencies of ambiguous laws. It is central to enforcement of a broad swath of laws protecting workplace safety, water quality, pollution levels, and more. Under the recent ruling, unelected judges will resolve statutory ambiguities.

The doctrine was not in line with the Constitution, DeSantis said. Accountability, he insisted, should come from the ballot box.

“If bureaucracy acts against you, you go and sue, you win,” DeSantis said. “If Congress doesn’t like that outcome, they can always rewrite the law and then you can hold them accountable at the ballot box. That’s the way this is supposed to be.”

Debate

DeSantis took time at the end of a news conference announcing grants for infrastructure and job training programs to criticize President Joe Biden’s debate performance, which he said gave him a “really uncomfortable feeling.”

“You compare him to 2019, to that debate, it’s been a really significant decline. And the idea that that decline is going to stop, that somehow you can make it to age 86, given the trajectory, is a joke, and everybody knows that’s a joke,” DeSantis said.

That’s the age Biden would be at the close of a second term.

Gov. Ron DeSantis poses for a photo with a check for the DeFuniak Springs airport terminal project and local officials. (Screenshot via the governor’s X livestream)

DeSantis said people calling on Biden to step aside are less concerned about his competence — they’re “totally fine to have a Weekend at Bernie’s presidency,” he said — but rather fear Biden will be unable to win reelection because “that scene was so jarring that they understand he’s going to lose.”

Speaking from Pensacola, DeSantis announced that Pensacola State College will receive $4.4 million for a new airframe and powerplant mechanics program, which trains students to maintain aircraft. The grant will pay for a new hangar and equipment at the Pensacola airport for the program.

“We think there’s a great opportunity in northwest Florida with the college here, but also with a lot of the folks that come through here in the military and as they leave the military,” DeSantis said.

The area is home to six military installations, including Eglin Air Force Base and Pensacola Naval Air Station.

The governor’s announcements included a $4.6 million grant for a 1.3-mile two-lane road in Jackson County from State Road 276 to Old Airbase Road. 

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