"Chevron deference" is a judicial precedent wherein courts defer to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. The precedent, which was once widely used by agencies to defend their actions, has fallen out of favor among the courts, with many expecting it to be overruled soon. Consequently, agencies may be relying on Chevron less, according to new analysis by James Kunhardt and Anne Joseph O’Connell.
Earlier this year, a federal court confirmed a plan that reduced Puerto Rico’s debt by 80%, but considerable work remains. Lorae Stojanovic and David Wessel summarize the comments of an expert panel at the recent Municipal Finance Conference, which included discussion of the law that led to this debt restructuring, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
Between 1979 and 2019, mandatory programs that are targeted including Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Earned Income Tax Credit grew at an average annual rate more than 40% faster than the three main universal mandatory programs (Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment Insurance). Last week, the Hamilton Project released an expanded update to Robert Greenstein's work exploring the success of targeted and universal social programs.
