On Thursday, Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola voted with all Democrats against the Separation of Powers Restoration Act, a bill aimed at reinforcing the separation of powers in the United States government. The legislation, also known as SOPRA, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives with a mostly party-line vote of 220-211.
H.R. 288 addresses a long-standing concern regarding the ballooning power of the executive branch in relation to federal regulatory authority.
SOPRA would shift some of the authority back to Congress, curtailing what some conservatives see as excessive regulation by the White House that costs American citizens greatly.
At the core of the issue is a 1984 Supreme Court case, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which introduced the concept of “Chevron deference.”
This so-called Chevron defense suggests that courts should defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of statutes, as long as those interpretations are considered reasonable. Over the years, this doctrine has given federal agencies enormous power to put their boots on the throats of Americans and American businesses.
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican from Wisconsin and the sponsor of SOPRA, argued that the Chevron ruling had granted the executive branch undue authority to regulate without proper checks and balances, often conflicting with Congress’s original intentions of legislation passed.
The passage of SOPRA represents a difference between Democrats, who long for more regulation and shutdown of American business, and Republicans, who have long sought to rein in the powers of federal agencies and restore legislative authority.
By taking steps to limit the ability of executive agencies to impose regulations unilaterally, proponents of the bill aim to ensure the laws made by the legislative branch are not expanded on incrementally by the White House and its agencies.
Rep. Peltola’s decision to vote against the bill draws attention to how she is wedded to Democrats and the Biden Administration, and the role of Big Government in the lives of Americans.
