July 5
With both chambers of Congress out of session for the Fourth of July holiday, this is a special edition of 1000 MORE covering several of the latest Supreme Court decisions and how they might move Congress. With elections coming up, it’s important to note the role Congress and the president have in the Supreme Court. The president nominates new justices, and the Senate votes whether or not to confirm them. Many people have pointed out that with two justices in their seventies, the next president will likely have the opportunity to nominate at least one, possibly two.
This week in MORE POWER:
King Sh*t: Presidential Immunity
Agency Powers Overturned
Regulating Sleep
Confusion on Abortion Laws
Weakening Federal Agencies
King Sh*t: Presidential Immunity
The Court ruled in favor of former President Donald Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, which now makes presidents exempt from federal prosecution for actions taken while performing presidential duties. For a bit of background, when Trump faced federal prosecution for his actions on January 6th of 2021, the former president claimed presidential immunity, which means that he was only fulfilling his presidential duties and should not be prosecuted. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision that fell along party lines, agreed. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that presidents require a great deal of immunity so they can perform their presidential duties without having to worry about lawsuits. The three Democratic justices disagreed with this ruling, with Justice Sotomayor writing that this decision effectively makes a president into a king.
Several Republican congresspeople have celebrated the decision, while several Democratic members have condemned it. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said that when the House returns from recess, she will file articles of impeachment against the Court.
Agency Powers Overturned
The Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine last week, which had been the law of the land since 1984. Effectively, the Chevron doctrine gave federal agencies the power to enforce the standards that Congress set. Congress would typically set goals and then leave it to the federal agencies to achieve those goals via specific rules. However, this recent Supreme Court decision eliminates the Chevron doctrine and federal agencies’ authority to set specific rules. In this case, fishermen sued the Department of Commerce over a new rule that mandated the fishermen pay for federal monitors on their boats. Now, Congress will need to add more specificity to the laws it passes, and judges will have a larger role in determining the legality of federal agencies’ rules.
Regulating Sleep
The Supreme Court ruled last week that bans on outdoor sleeping are not unconstitutional, overturning an appeals court's decision that labeled the bans as cruel and unusual punishment in cases of homelessness. In a 6-3 decision, the Court disagreed with the appeals court. The majority opinion, written by Justice Gorsuch, stated that while the Court cannot solve the complex issue of homelessness, the bans are constitutional, not cruel or unusual. In the dissenting opinion, Justice Sotomayor held that the bans do constitute cruel and unusual punishment, as they penalize Americans for circumstances beyond their control. Laws making it illegal to sleep in public spaces are written and implemented at the state and local level, but Congress could do more to address homelessness at the federal level.
Confusion on Abortion Laws
The Supreme Court declined to decide on an Idaho emergency abortion case, adding confusion to the legal landscape of emergency abortions. Without a Supreme Court ruling, it appears Idaho emergency rooms can perform emergency abortions if the mother's health is at risk. Currently, Idaho's abortion ban does not include exceptions for the health of the mother. A federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), mandates that emergency room doctors treat or stabilize every patient before discharge. However, Idaho doctors have been unsure if they can legally perform emergency abortions due to the state’s ban – which classifies providing abortions as a felony – even if an abortion is what they believe to be necessary to stabilize their patients.
The Biden administration reiterated on Tuesday that EMTALA requires treating or stabilizing all patients, even if that requires an emergency abortion. Will Congress pass a law to clarify this?
Weakening Federal Agencies
The Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) will not be able to enforce its “good neighbor” rule, which aimed to decrease air pollution that drifts downwind into neighboring states. It would have decreased emissions from power plants and other industrial sources. Three energy producing states, Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia joined the steel industry in this lawsuit. The Court decided to block the rule in part because the rule had already been blocked in other states, and the EPA had not addressed the rule’s effectiveness when only certain states adhered to it. Many people consider this a downgrade of the EPA’s authority. Litigation in this case is on-going.
The Court’s decision was narrow, with a margin of 5-4. The three liberal justices dissented, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined them. However, the “good neighbor” plan was not struck down entirely. Now, it will return to a federal appeals court, which may be appealed back up to the Supreme Court. The entire process could take several months or even years.
What Congress Passed
Nothing; they were in recess.
Nothing; they were in recess.
Nothing.
What POTUS Signed Into Law
H.R.2365 Dr. Emmanuel Bilirakis National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act
