NAW Circulates a Letter to President Biden to Stop Regulatory Activity

The National Association of Wholesalers (NAW) penned a letter to President Biden calling for a suspension of regulatory activity so agencies can review the Loper decision and how it might affect their current regulatory projects.

Per their letter, “considering the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo, we ask your Administration to pause all current rulemakings and refrain from allowing any new rules to take effect until there is a thorough legal review of the agency’s constitutional and statutory authority to regulate in the way it proposes.  The Court’s decision dramatically alters the legal landscape within which federal agencies operate. Prior to Loper Bright federal agencies enjoyed tremendous judicial deference in what, how, and who they regulated when their actions were challenged as illegal and outside the scope of their constitutional or statutory authority. However, the Court’s opinion in Loper Bright affirmatively overrules what has come to be known as Chevron deference by finding such deference contrary to the instructions for courts reviewing the legality of agency actions as set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).”

Their letter continues with “Loper Bright explicitly impacts all current and future rules being pursued by your Administration. As of July 1, 2024, there are over one-thousand major rules in various stages of review at the federal agencies you oversee. One-hundred and forty-five of those rules would have an impact on the economy of more than $200 million. All these regulations and any future regulations should be reevaluated in light of Loper Bright before they are promulgated.”

They concluded the letter with “respectfully request that you immediately direct all federal agencies to review any regulations that are currently under review -- including any final rules which have been published but have not yet become effective -- to ensure that the proposed regulatory action is clearly authorized by Congress under the U.S. Constitution and the statute(s) it seeks to implement.”