Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today introduced a bill to reverse the Supreme Court’s recent decision that significantly extends the length of time plaintiffs have to challenge federal regulations. 

The Agency Stability Restoration Act would reverse the court’s decision in Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, issued earlier this month, and specifically addresses points raised in the dissenting opinion issued by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, which cited an amicus brief submitted in the case by Democracy Forward. 

Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman released the following statement in response to the legislation’s introduction: 

“The Supreme Court’s decision in Corner Post undermines the ability of our government to deliver for people. Justice Jackson’s clarion dissent demonstrates that Congress has the power to correct the Court majority’s mistake through enacting legislation that protects longstanding federal programs and benefits and the ability of federal agencies to work for people, and that’s exactly what the Agency Stability Restoration Act will do. The Corner Post decision could place everything, from our medication, to gun safety measures, to health care access, to public land and park protections, in jeopardy. As an organization that principally litigates on behalf of people and communities across the nation, we warned of the harms that would result to the nation’s economy in a brief filed on behalf of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of small businesses and are encouraged, in light of the court’s harmful ruling, by this new legislation. We are pleased, for the first time since our founding, to take the step of endorsing legislation. We are grateful for Senator Coons’ leadership in introducing this important bill.”

In Corner Post, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority concluded that plaintiffs allegedly injured by agency actions could bring their challenges within six years of their injury, rather than within six years of final agency action, significantly extending the amount of time plaintiffs have to challenge regulations. This decision undermines public agencies’ ability to create rules that safeguard everyday Americans and small businesses, as well as the environment, healthcare, and consumer welfare, by allowing a stream of legal challenges to those rules long after those rules were first promulgated, finalized, and litigated. 

The Agency Stability Restoration Act would reinstate decades of precedent by reversing the court’s decision, making clear that challenges to agency actions must be brought within six years after the challenged action was finalized. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). 

The full text of the bill is available here.

For more information about Democracy Forward and this case, please visit https://democracyforward.org/scotus-corner-post/. 

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