Rosenworcel: Supreme Court Took Away FCC's 'Thumb on the Scale'

Sept. 29, 2024 – A recent Supreme Court decision will make it harder for federal regulatory agencies to defend their rules in federal court, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Friday in California.

"The Supreme Court has recently stepped back from the Chevron deference which long gave ... put a thumb on the scale in favor of regulatory interpretations on ambiguous laws. That is no longer the case," she said, following a speech at the Berkeley Law AI Institute on the topic of artificial intelligence.

In June, the high court handed down Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned the judicial canon known as the Chevron Doctrine that required courts to defer to the FCC's reasonable interpretations of ambiguous laws. Now, courts are required to determine the best reading of the law.