Signs in the SCOTUS orders list this morning of the new conservative majority's strategy: go after agencies' leeway in interpreting their own regulations (a @FedSoc priority), but steer clear (for now) of abortion-related controversies.
The Court denied Gee v. Planned Parenthood & Andersen v. Planned Parenthood (PP funding challenges) and granted Kisor v. Wilkie (challenge to Auer deference) supremecourt.gov/orders/courtor…
The strategy is anchored by Roberts & Kavanaugh: either justice could have been the tipping-point vote to grant the Planned Parenthood cases.
And it makes smart public-relations sense, given the hyper-politicization of SCOTUS during the Kavanaugh hearings: the public is highly attentive to anything related to abortion but has no idea what Auer or Chevron are or what agency deference means.
