To surprisingly little fanfare, on June 15 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that took square aim at the federal administrative state, fulfilling in part the promise of a newly conservatized supreme bench and realizing in part one of the federal bureaucracy’s perennial fears. The facts of the case, American Hospital Association v. Becerra, weren’t sufficiently sensational to attract much attention; the underlying dispute involved routine payments made to hospitals by the federal government as part of its Medicare reimbursement program. But the knock-on effect the decision will have in other areas of administrative law, and its long-range political implications, should have made government watchers sit up and take note.
Compliance and Enforcement
