Editorial Board
What If Regulation Is Unconstitutional?
If conservatives are concerned about regulatory overreach, there are better ways to address it than dismantling the administrative state.
Did the founders foresee this?
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Is regulation as we know it unconstitutional? It’s not inconceivable that, sometime soon, the US Supreme Court could reach such a conclusion, invalidating much of the vast administrative apparatus created to promote such public goods as clean air, workplace safety and financial stability.
The court is right to worry about America’s dozens of regulatory agencies abusing their power or becoming an unaccountable fourth branch of government. But if that’s the concern, there are much better, more prudent and less disruptive ways to proceed.