Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump · ¶107

The major questions doctrine performs a similar function. Article I vests all federal legislative power in Congress. But like any written instrument, federal legislation cannot anticipate every eventuality, a point my concurring colleagues have observed in the past. Id., at 781–782. And highly resourceful members of the executive branch have strong incentives to exploit any doubt in Congress's past work to assume new power for themselves. The major questions doctrine helps prevent that kind of exploitation. Our founders understood that men are not angels, and we disregard that insight at our peril when we allow the few (or the one) to aggrandize their power based on loose or uncertain authority. We delude ourselves, too, if we think that power will accumulate safely and only in the hands of dispassionate “people . . . found in agencies.” Id., at 781. Even if unelected agency officials…

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