Bipartisan Policy Center Releases Report on “Legislating After Loper”
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| March 28, 2025
Yesterday, the Bipartisan Policy Center hosted a launch event on its report, “Legislating After Loper: Practical Solutions for a Post-Chevron Congress,” written by members of its Working Group on Congress, Courts, and Administrative Law.
The Working Group is co-chaired by Former Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Mel Martinez (R-FL) along with eight working group members.
The Working Group Report included four recommendations:
- Empower congressional committees in their essential role as sources of knowledge and deliberation.
Any effort to change the way Congress legislates and improves its deliberations must start with its committees. By a variety of indicators, the role of congressional committees has shifted over time, from policy development to executive branch oversight. The Working Group recommends enhancing the policy role of congressional committees by allocating additional resources to them and altering their operations.
- Expand the resources available to Congress for drafting legislation, crafting clear language, and understanding constitutional and legal dynamics around proposed bills.
The Supreme Court expects greater clarity and precision from Congress in how it writes laws and delegates implementation authority to regulatory agencies. Achieving this—and addressing other aspects of Court jurisprudence—will require additional resources to build capacity so legal and constitutional issues can be better addressed.
- Strengthen the ability of Congress to provide guidance and direction regarding statutory interpretation and congressional purpose.
Interpretation of legislation passed by Congress will receive new emphasis following recent Supreme Court decisions. We recommend steps—such as clarification of definitions and new resources—that can bolster Congress’ role in how statutes are interpreted by others, particularly agencies, courts, other government bodies, and the private sector.
- Enhance the ability of Congress to work productively with regulatory agencies by updating laws, particularly agencies’ authorizing statutes.
Congress frequently fails to reauthorize programs and agencies in a timely manner, leaving a vacuum of interpretation and implementation. We recommend actions—such as retrospective review by agencies—to enhance the learning process for Congress and agencies, so that the legislative process and subsequent implementation by the executive branch can be improved.
