National Review’s McLaughlin Asks Why AG Bondi’s DOJ is “Still Fighting Loper Bright”

National Review’s Dan McLaughlin wonders why Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice continues to defend the regulation at issue in Loper Bright in the D.C. Circuit:

You might have thought that Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo was a great and conclusive victory for conservatives, and one that would be eagerly embraced by MAGA Republicans eager to housebreak the administrative “deep state.” So, why is this administration’s Justice Department still defending the Loper Bright case?

McLaughlin specifically notes that the DOJ has made no changes to the legal team working on the Loper case:

The Court, having decided the big question, sent the smaller one back to the lower courts to decide under the proper standard. So, Loper Bright is now back at the D.C. Circuit, as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Lutnick. And guess who’s defending it? The Department of Justice under Donald Trump and Pam Bondi. The case is still being defended by Daniel Halainen, a career DOJ attorney hired during the Obama administration, who argued it before the D.C. Circuit back when he was working for Merrick Garland and previously worked on the legal team defending Loper Bright and Chevron at the Supreme Court.

Halainen is still at it, but it’s unclear how much supervision he’s getting from the DOJ, or why the DOJ is still insisting on imposing these costs on boats full of working-class fishermen. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court decided Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colo., which chided courts for not deferring to the policy decisions of agencies where the law allows the agency that discretion.