FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 9, 2025
Contact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343
Dr. Paul, Sen. Schmitt Reintroduce Bill to Rein in Administrative State
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO) reintroduced a bill aimed at dismantling the power of the Administrative State – the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA).
“The whims of an unaccountable administrative state should never rule our lives. The Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle Chevron deference stripped away some of the power it wrongly gave to unelected bureaucrats years ago, but there’s still work to do. It’s time for the Senate to rein in administrative overreach and restore Courts to their proper, constitutionally assigned role as the interpreters of the law. I’m proud to join Senator Schmitt in working for a more transparent, accountable, and restrained government in the post-Chevron era,” said Dr. Rand Paul.
“Reining in an out-of-control administrative state has long been one of my top priorities, and I look forward to working hand-in-hand with the incoming Trump Administration to accomplish the shared goal of gutting the administrative state and clawing power out of the hands of nameless, faceless bureaucrats and returning it back to the people. The ERASER Act would require agencies who wish to enact a new regulation to pull three regulations off the books. And the Separation of Powers Restoration Act would put a stop to courts’ deference to agency interpretation on regulations and enact a much stricter review, putting power back in the hands of the People where it belongs. This is a critical one-two punch to the bloated administrative state, and I look forward to working with President Trump and his administration on this critical effort.” said Senator Eric Schmitt.
The Chevron doctrine required courts to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of the law, even when that interpretation expanded the agency’s own authority. This doctrine undermined Congress’s ability to constrain bureaucratic power and left opposing litigants—often facing severe penalties—with little chance of success. Although the Supreme Court has overturned Chevron deference, SOPRA will codify the principle that courts must decide cases based on their legal merits without giving deference to prior agency decisions or interpretations, ensuring that all forms of deference doctrines are curtailed.
U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Ted Budd (R-NC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Dr. Paul and Sen. Schmitt (R-MO) in introducing SOPRA.
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