“It is the biggest power grab that the Supreme Court has made since 1805 ... I’m not f***ing kidding!”
That was how one totally sane, rational TikToker responded to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on federal agencies’ regulatory authority, in a viral video reaching 4.7 million people.
“Do you enjoy flying in an airplane and being reasonably certain that it won’t plummet out of the sky, killing you and everyone else aboard?” another popular TikToker asked . “Well, say goodbye to that peace of mind because the Supreme Court is now in charge of the Transportation Administration.”
People need not worry just about planes falling out of the sky but also that companies will intentionally poison our drinking water after the high court’s decision, the legal scholars of TikTok claimed.
“Companies want nothing more than to put asbestos in your drinking water,” a TikToker in one viral video with 3.5 million views pronounced . “Justice Clarence Thomas will write a majority decision allowing companies to put asbestos in your drinking water and then driving away in a brand new Winnebago paid for by the asbestos company.”
Thankfully, this hysteria has no basis in reality.
For context, this panic all comes after the Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling overturned the doctrine of “Chevron deference.” This 1984 legal precedent essentially said that when federal laws are vague or ambiguous, courts must typically defer to the federal agencies’ interpretation of the laws that limit or define the power of their agencies. That’s right: Federal agencies get to decide what the laws limiting federal agencies mean.
Now, thanks to this latest ruling, judges, not executive agencies, will once again be responsible for deciding what laws mean. Which is how our government is supposed to work.
“Woke” TikTok evidently missed Civics 101, wherein most people learn that Congress is responsible for writing laws, the executive branch is responsible for enforcing laws, and the judicial branch is responsible for interpreting laws and settling disputes over their constitutionality and meaning. The Chevron doctrine had distorted this order and given federal agencies the ability to define the limits of their own authority, a recipe for abuses at odds with the basic separation of powers. All the Supreme Court’s decision does is restore the proper checks and balances.
It does not overturn any past environmental or safety regulations, and its primary effect will be on disputes over future regulations. Importantly, it does not stop Congress from delegating authority to the “experts” at federal agencies. Lawmakers just must actually delegate that authority in laws they pass. The primary change is simply that, now, agencies can’t “interpret” vague statutes to find new powers for themselves and then have that “interpretation” deferred to in court.
There’s no rational way to view this Supreme Court decision as a “power grab.” If anything, it’s the reversal of what was an actual power grab, under Chevron, by the executive branch.
It’s ironic because these same types of progressive TikTokers are otherwise worried about the prospect of former President Donald Trump being reelected, abusing his power, and becoming a dictator. Yet they’re panicking over a decision that vastly limits the power of the executive branch to act unilaterally in a truly “imperial” manner. In other words, they’re upset about a decision that may hamper Trump’s ability to enact his agenda during a possible second term.
So, too, these types often complain about threats to “democracy.” Yet here they are upset that lawmaking power is being restored to our elected representatives and taken away from unelected bureaucrats.
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On one hand, this backlash is just laughable in its absurdity. But in another sense, it’s deeply concerning because millions of young people are consuming this alarmist misinformation and falling for it hook, line, and sinker. To be blunt, the legitimacy of the Supreme Court is being undermined in the eyes of millions of future voters through advocacy that has no basis in reality.
Meanwhile, young people are being pushed even further into the state of constant political panic that has fueled so many mental health problems. If you ask me, that’s a far bigger threat to the future of this country than anything in the actual Supreme Court ruling.
Brad Polumbo ( @Brad_Polumbo ) is an independent journalist, YouTuber , and co-founder of BASEDPolitics .
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