Long gone is the era of the “The Buck Stops Here” mentality in Washington, DC. Lately, politicians in the nation’s capital will seek any and all ways to avoid taking responsibility for the state of the country. One of the ways this takes shape is members of Congress delegating their responsibilities to unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch. That way Congress can try to take credit if things go well and foist blame if things go poorly. However, the Supreme Court may have just dealt a crushing blow to this legislative cowardice.
In West Virginia v. EPA, the Court ruled in a 6-3 opinion that the Clean Power Plan issued by the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was unconstitutional. The ruling relied heavily on the “major questions doctrine,” which dictates that major policy decisions should be debated and decided by Congress, not a bureaucracy. Because of the wording of Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion, it is likely that this decision will extend far beyond the EPA in its impact on public policy.
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