U.S. Supreme Court Readies to Decide an Important Separation of Powers Issue
With May having begun, we have entered the zone in which the Supreme Court will be announcing decisions in the most important cases of this term.
Among them is Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research, a case we have been following involving an important separation of powers issue, which, depending on its outcome, could dramatically alter the manner and extent to which Congress may empower regulatory agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to promulgate regulations and how the agencies may fund and operate their programs.
The case was argued back on Mar. 26, along with a companion case Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition v. Consumers’ Research. It centers around Congress’ passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the authority it granted the FCC to administer the statute.
In anticipation of an upcoming decision, now is a good time to look back at the oral argument and the underlying issues.
What follows is a white paper again reviewing the basic principles involving the constitutionality of congressional delegations and a review of the issues presented in the case, followed by a discussion of how they were argued, how the justices reacted and then some concluding thoughts.
