Supreme Court Considers Reducing Regulatory Agency Power (1)

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices expressed doubts about a precedent that business groups and the Trump administration say gives federal agencies too much power to change regulations without notice.

In an hour-long argument in Washington March 27, the court signaled it will divide along ideological lines in the case, which centers on a 1997 ruling that requires judges generally to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of their own regulations. The clash is one of the top business cases of the court’s nine-month term.

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch said overturning that ruling, known as Auer v. Robbins, would prevent ...