Major Questions

In Louisiana v. Biden, No. 22-30019 (Dec. 19, 2022), a panel majority invalidated a Presidential vaccination mandate, holding: “This so-called ‘Major Questions Doctrine’ – that is, that ‘[w]e expect Congress to speak clearly when authorizing an agency to exercise powers of vast economic and political significance,’ – serves as a bound on Presidential authority.” (citation omitted, emphasis added, applying West Virginia v. EPA, 142 S. Ct. 2587 (2022)).

A dissent saw matters otherwise. A commentator in Slate criticized the expansion of the major questions doctrine to actions by the executive branch. On this general topic, I’ve suggested in Law360 that the major questions doctrine may have the unintended consequence of justifying Congressional restrictions on Article III jurisdiction.