Bipartisan Policy Center, Legislating After Loper: Practical Solutions for a Post-Chevron Congress

Bipartisan Policy Center, Legislating After Loper, March 2025.

In March 2025, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Working Group on Congress, Courts, and Administrative Law released a report responding to several recent Supreme Court cases. These include Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which overturned Chevron deference, ending courts’ practice of deferring to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous laws, and high court decisions applying the major questions doctrine, which limit agency action on significant issues without explicit congressional approval.

The Working Group views these rulings as both an opportunity and a challenge for Congress to reassess how it writes laws, delegates authority, and works with federal agencies, offering four recommendations for how Congress can reassert its role in policymaking: 

• Strengthen congressional committees by improving their resources, staffing, and expertise;
• Expand legislative support services, such as the Office of Legislative Counsel, to assist with drafting, legal analysis, and oversight;
• Improve statutory interpretation by writing laws more clearly and using tools like purpose statements and definitions; and
• Enhance coordination with federal agencies, including updating outdated statutes and reviewing how laws are working in practice.

The report concludes that acting in these areas is essential for Congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.