A catch in PPACA's court ruling

Photo: Associated Press

(Bloomberg View) — Thursday’s Supreme Court decision to uphold a pivotal regulation under the Affordable Care Act is, of course, a tremendous victory for the Barack Obama administration. But it also establishes a principle that’s likely to haunt future presidents. (Disclosure: As administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009 to 2012, I worked on, and helped oversee, the regulation at issue in the case.)

The underlying question is which branch of government has the power to interpret ambiguous legislation. Since the Supreme Court’s 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the executive branch has been allowed to adopt its own interpretations, as long as they’re reasonable. And because so many laws are ambiguous, this “Chevron principle” has given great authority to executive agencies and the president.