# Understanding the Sunset Chevron Act

This bill would automatically eliminate hundreds of government regulations that were previously approved by courts using a legal principle called "Chevron deference." Here's what that means in practical terms: for decades, when someone challenged a government agency's rule in court, judges would often defer to the agency's interpretation if the law was unclear. This bill would end that practice retroactively by forcing all rules that were ever upheld this way to expire on a staggered schedule.

The bill requires the Government Accountability Office (a government watchdog agency) to create a list of every rule currently in effect that was upheld in court using Chevron deference. Once that list is published, the rules would start disappearing. The most recent rule from each agency would expire 30 days after the list comes out, then each older rule would expire 30 days after the one that came after it. This means rules could be eliminated one by one over months or years, depending on how many rules are on the list. For example, if an agency has 50 rules on the list, they'd expire roughly every 30 days until all are gone.

This could have significant real-world consequences. Environmental regulations, workplace safety rules, healthcare standards, and countless other protections that agencies created and courts approved could simply vanish unless Congress acts to save them. Businesses might face uncertainty about which rules still apply, while people relying on those protections could suddenly lose them. The bill essentially gives Congress a way to kill old regulations without having to vote on each one individually, though Congress could theoretically pass new laws to keep rules it wants to preserve.

Sunset Chevron Act

Rep. Green, Mark E. [R-TN-7]

Sunset Chevron Act This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to compile a list of, and sunset dates for, federal agency rules that were upheld under the administrative law doctrine of Chevron deference.&nbsp;(In&nbsp;Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court overturned Chevron&nbsp;v. Natural Resources Defense Council&nbsp;and held that courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority. Under Loper, the courts may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous, as the&nbsp;Chevron doctrine required.) Under the bill, the GAO list must include each federal court decision that (1) upheld a rule based on Chevron deference, (2) was not subsequently overturned, and (3) pertains to a rule that is in effect on the date of enactment of this bill. The list must also include a sunset date&nbsp;for each identified rule. The sunset&nbsp;date for each agency's most recent rule on the list must be&nbsp;30 days after the list is published. The sunset date for each prior rule of the agency&nbsp;must be 30 days after the sunset date of the rule preceding it on the list. Further, rules identified on the list are subject to a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act without regard to the 60-legislative-day limit on the period for filing such a resolution after a rule has been received by Congress.