Fixing the Boundaries of Federal Agencies' Discretionary Authority

The essay addresses the legal vacuum left by Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo regarding how courts should 'fix the boundaries' of agency discretionary authority. It argues that courts should utilize a statute's purpose, structure, and historical context to define these boundaries, subsequently applying the State Farm arbitrary-and-capricious standard to evaluate the agency's decision-making.

• The Supreme Court ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ended the Chevron doctrine, meaning courts no longer defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutory language and must instead identify the "best reading" of the law.
• While Loper Bright requires courts to recognize and define the boundaries of discretionary authority delegated by Congress, it fails to provide specific guidelines on how to perform this task.
• To determine the boundaries of discretionary authority, courts should primarily examine the purpose and structure of the statute, while potentially considering historical understandings or the origins of the authority; once boundaries are set, the State Farm arbitrary-and-capricious standard should be used to verify reasoned decision-making.

APA

Jones, J. (2026). Fixing the Boundaries of Federal Agencies' Discretionary Authority. Institute for Policy Integrity. https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/fixing-the-boundaries-of-federal-agencies-discretionary-authority

Chicago

Jones, Jack. Fixing the Boundaries of Federal Agencies' Discretionary Authority. Institute for Policy Integrity, 2026. https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/fixing-the-boundaries-of-federal-agencies-discretionary-authority.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jones |first1=Jack |title=Fixing the Boundaries of Federal Agencies' Discretionary Authority |publisher=Institute for Policy Integrity |date=4 June 2026 |url=https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/fixing-the-boundaries-of-federal-agencies-discretionary-authority |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2026fixing, author = {Jones, Jack}, title = {{Fixing the Boundaries of Federal Agencies' Discretionary Authority}}, institution = {Institute for Policy Integrity}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://policyintegrity.org/publications/detail/fixing-the-boundaries-of-federal-agencies-discretionary-authority}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }