Taxation without representation is the antithesis of freedom and runs counter to the basic principles guiding our nation. So why is regulation without representation not considered an equal threat to freedom?
Federal agencies constantly issue regulations that fail to reflect the will of lawmakers who represent the people.
The Supreme Court recently shot down such attacks on freedom when it issued rulings striking down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s nationwide eviction moratorium during the pandemic and the Obama Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan rule that would have turned the agency into the nation’s electrical grid manager. In both instances, the agencies were not implementing law so much as they were creating it.
The Supreme Court may help to block some of these threats to our representative form of government, but the judicial branch is generally going to step in only in the most extreme instances. That’s why Congress needs to do its part to ensure agencies don’t ignore the critical importance of representative government.
This is more important than ever with the Biden administration drastically expanding the size and role of the administrative state, whether through its continued student loan forgiveness efforts or the EPA’s final rule to help kill off gas-powered cars.
