Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Veteran Warriors, Inc., et al. v. Denis R. McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2021-1378 · judgment March 25, 2022
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Questions presented
The central premise of deference to agency interpretations under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), is that statutory ambiguity marks a delegation of authority from Congress. Because Congress legislates against the backdrop of canons of statutory construction, courts must employ all applicable canons to determine whether Congress has in fact delegated interpretative authority to an agency. Id. at 843 n.9. Here, the Federal Circuit concluded that provisions in the Caregiver Act were ambiguous and therefore interpretations from the Department of Veterans Affairs were entitled to deference without first applying the ProVeteran Canon. The questions presented are:
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Whether courts can defer to the construction of a statute by the Department of Veterans Affairs without first considering whether the statute permits a proveteran construction pursuant to the Pro-Veteran Canon.
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Whether Chevron should be clarified or replaced to protect canons of construction, including the ProVeteran Canon, from becoming a nullity. (i)
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Michael Robert Franzinger
Sidley Austin LLP
For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General
Proceedings
- Feb 21 2023Petition DENIED.
- Feb 01 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/17/2023.
- Jan 31 2023Reply of petitioner Veteran Warriors, Inc., et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Jan 18 2023Brief of respondent Denis R. McDonough, Secretary of Veteran Affairs in opposition filed.
- Dec 01 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including January 18, 2023.
- Nov 29 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 19, 2022 to January 18, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
- Nov 17 2022Brief amicus curiae of The Federal Circuit Bar Association filed.
- Nov 17 2022Brief amici curiae of Military-Veterans Advocacy Inc., et al. filed.
- Oct 26 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 19, 2022.
- Oct 25 2022Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 17, 2022 to December 19, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
- Oct 14 2022Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 17, 2022)
- Sep 06 2022Application (22A202) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until October 14, 2022.
- Aug 31 2022Application (22A202) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from September 15, 2022 to October 14, 2022, submitted to The Chief Justice.