Supreme Court Won’t Weigh Curbing U.S. Agency Powers

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Nov. 25 to once again consider whether Congress is disregarding a long-held legal doctrine and giving too much power to federal agencies.

Last term a short-handed Supreme Court refused to reinvigorate the “non-delegation doctrine,” which prohibits lawmakers from effectively passing off their legislative authority to another branch of government. The doctrine was used to upend New Deal legislation in the 1930s, but has been dormant since.

Conservatives and libertarians eager to dismantle the so-called administrative state are eager for the court to find that Congress has violated separation of powers and to curb executive authority. ...