Justices Rule On Exemptions For Oil Companies | Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Legislation To Put SCOTUS Hearings On Camera
June 25, 2021
BIG OIL WINS BIG
|The Supreme Court this morning ruled to give oil companies a break from federal mandates that they mix renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel. Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Ellen Gilmer with Bloomberg report, “In a 6-3 decision, the justices rejected arguments that the Environmental Protection Agency’s exemption power is limited to only a handful of refineries that have received uninterrupted annual waivers from the Renewable Fuel Standard. Under PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, the agency was expected to issue fewer waivers and force more refineries to satisfy annual biofuel quotas by either blending plant-based alternatives into their products or buying compliance credits from other companies that have. However, the new precedent will give future administrations wide clearance to exempt oil refineries from annual blending quotas.”
WATCH AND LEARN
|Josh Gerstein with POLITICO reports the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved a pair of bills that would “dramatically expand video coverage of federal court trials and other proceedings while putting Supreme Court arguments on camera for the first time.” The bills have bipartisan support and, according to Fix the Court, it’s the first time such legislation has cleared the Senate committee in more than a decade.
BACKFIRED SPECTACULARLY
|“In 2016, a group of wealthy investors hatched a lawsuit to dislodge $124 billion from the United States treasury and transfer a chunk of the money to their own pockets. The investors attacked the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a powerful executive agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their plan was to force a settlement that would enrich shareholders by transferring billions of dollars back to the mortgage giants and release them from government control. It is difficult to overstate how badly this scheme backfired.” Mark Joseph Stern with Slate reviews the Supreme Court’s decision this week to affirm investors’ constitutional theory and then reject their effort to “claw back billions while deregulating the mortgage industry.”
SCOTUS VIEWS
The Supreme Court’s Pro-Corporate Revolution Is Accelerating
The Washington Post“If you’re worried about how the 6-3 conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court will change the country, you probably think mostly of hot-button issues like abortion and guns. But while Roe v. Wade could indeed be overturned and gun regulations could be struck down, we don’t have to wait to find out about an equally important, sweeping right-wing revolution this court has planned. Because it has already begun.”
Why Must Women Wait For The Supreme Court To Decide What We Can Do With Our Bodies?
TIME“Existing as a woman in America means watching a parade of state legislators stand up every year and debate bills that restrict your body and therefore how much say you have over the direction of your life. These bills are argued in courts, online, in classrooms and on opinion pages. Our bodies are not simply our bodies. They are the part of the discourse.”
OTHER NEWS
Justice Alito Bristles At Conservative Supreme Court's Incremental Course
The Hill“Justice Samuel Alito has drawn attention for his fiery criticism of Supreme Court rulings, with some court watchers especially struck by the degree of barely concealed hostility he directed at fellow conservative justices. Alito voiced opposition last week as the court, now with six conservative justices and three liberals, handed a narrow win to a Catholic charity and spared ObamaCare from a GOP challenge. The two decisions signaled the court may not be moving as far or as fast to the right as some expected.”
The Supreme Court Decides Not To Light The Housing Market On Fire
Vox“One of the conservative legal movement’s oddest obsessions involves something known as the ‘unitary executive,’ the idea that all federal officers who execute federal law must be accountable to the president of the United States, which includes the president’s right to fire many senior government officials at will. This obsession birthed a $124 billion Supreme Court case, Collins v. Yellen, that threatened to throw the entire US housing market into turmoil, unless a majority of the court was willing to take a couple steps back away from its almost religious devotion to the unitary executive doctrine. On Wednesday, the court did just that.”