Explain how a court, when reviewing an administrative construction of a statute, applies the Chevron Doctrine. Be sure to specifically show the step-by-step thinking model that the court employs

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The first step in the application of the Chevron Doctrine is for the court to examine the enabling statute to determine the extent to which the Congress has addressed the specific issues at law. If Congress has expressly stated their intent clearly, the court will employ a de novo review to the issues at hand. Because Congress has spoken, the agency is afforded little or no discretion, so the court gives no deference to the agency's decision. This is called Chevron Step 1 . If Congress has not delineated their intent, the court examines whether Congress has specifically delegated gap-filling authority to the agency. If the court determines that a delegation has indeed occurred, the agency's actions or rules are reviewed using the arbitrary capricious standard if examining an informal action or rule and a substantial evidence standard if reviewing a formal action or rule. If the court finds no explicitly delegated gap-filling authority, the reasonableness standard is applied. This is called Chevron Step 2 .