Covid, Tobacco Policy at Risk After High Court Emissions Ruling

The HHS will have a significantly harder time responding to public health threats and addressing a host of other policy issues following the US Supreme Court’s decision to block the Environmental Protection Agency from curbing power-plant emissions.

The justices’ 6-3 precedent-setting ruling endorsed a legal approach called the major questions doctrine, which states that agencies need precise Congressional authorization to address issues of major financial or political importance in novel ways. The court’s conservative members have lamented the power agencies have to create and enforce their own rules, and Thursday’s opinion will have lasting implications on every agency’s ability to ...