Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Fresh Challenge to Agency Power

The Supreme Court, which dealt a major blow to the power of federal agencies in June, agreed to consider another: whether Congress violates the Constitution by delegating broad discretion to them. The so-called nondelegation doctrine has been largely dormant since 1935, when the Supreme Court struck down New Deal laws for granting too much leeway to agencies with insufficient guidance. A decision reviving the doctrine would be the latest in a sustained series of attacks on what its critics call the administrative state. The new dispute concerns an $8 billion fund that helps pay for telephone and broadband services for poor people and residents of rural areas. Overseen by the Federal Communications Commission, the Universal Service Fund relies on charges imposed on phone bills. Consumers’ Research, a conservative group, challenged the law establishing the program, saying it granted the agency too much discretion. Moreover, the group said, the FCC had acted unlawfully in letting a private entity administer the fund.