House Republicans hastily released the lower chamber for recess early Thursday morning, delaying votes on items including a bill that would eliminate the Chevron deference, a judiciary practice by which courts defer to the interpretation of a government agency in cases of ambiguous statutory meaning.
On Wednesday morning, House Democrats staged a sit-in on the floor of the House in an attempt to force a vote on a measure that would require expanded background checks for anyone on the no-fly list to purchase a gun. The demonstration was motivated by the June 12 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., which was perpetrated by a man who had been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations for suspected terror ties.
Trying to take back control, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) pushed through two votes and in the early morning hours of Thursday released the House for recess. The Democrats remained on the floor until just after 1 p.m. Thursday, after more than 24 hours.
The House will be back in session on July 5.
The Separation of Powers Restoration Act would leave it up to judges to decide the meaning of ambiguous statutes, not agencies as is the case under the Chevron deference.
Opponents of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which sets carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, argue in a federal lawsuit that EPA does not have the authority to regulate carbon from such facilities under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act because existing coal-fired power plants have already been regulated for different pollutants under Section 112. The Clean Air Act says a source cannot be regulated under both sections.
The EPA has interpreted the Clean Air Act to mean a source cannot be regulated for the same pollutant under both sections, not that the source itself cannot be regulated under both sections, and argues that the court should accept its interpretation under the Chevron deference.
It is unclear at this time whether the bill, should it be signed into law, would apply to the Clean Power Plan case.