Politics and Policy Change in American Administrative Law

This essay uses Justice Scalia’s and Breyer’s dueling opinions in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2009), as a vehicle for exploring the contested relationship between politics and policy change in administrative law. In Fox, a five – justice majority led by Justice Scalia insisted that an agency’s abandonment of an old policy position in favor of a new one should survive review for arbitrariness so long as the agency explains why its new position is reasonable. A different five – justice majority (yes – that adds up to ten) led by Justice Breyer thought that Justice Scalia’s stance left too much room for politicization of policymaking. To curb such influence, Justice Breyer insisted that an agency, to justify abandoning an old policy, must explain why it was reasonable to change from its old policy to the new one. Neither of these two approaches in Fox hits quite the right note. Justice Scalia’s view unduly minimizes the problem of politicization. Justice Breyer’s solution seems formalistic and easy to evade. A better way forward may lie in combining Justice Scalia’s simpler framework with Justice Breyer’s more suspicious attitude. Taking a cue from Justice Frankfurter in Universal Camera, the courts should respond to the potential for excessive politicization of agency policymaking not with more doctrinal metaphysics but with a suspicious “mood.” Cet article se base sur les opinions adverses des juges Scalia et Breyer dans FCC v. Fox Television Stations Inc. (2009) comme véhicule pour explorer le rapport contesté entre la politique et les changements de politiques en droit administratif. Dans Fox, une majorité de cinq juges dirigée par le juge Scalia a insisté que l’abandon d’une ancienne politique par une agence en faveur d’une nouvelle politique devrait survivre à un examen pour juger si elle est arbitraire en autant que l’agence explique pourquoi sa nouvelle politique est raisonnable. Une autre majorité de cinq juges (oui – cela fait dix) dirigée par le juge Breyer a trouvé que la position du juge ...