Allstates Refractory Contractors v. Su
Headline: Challenge to OSHA’s sweeping rulemaking power denied as the Court refuses review, leaving the agency’s broad workplace-safety authority in place while Justice Thomas urges reconsideration of delegation limits.
Holding:
- Leaves OSHA’s broad workplace-safety authority in effect while litigation continues.
- Potentially affects virtually every business that employs workers nationwide.
- Signals a possible future Supreme Court review of agency power limits.
Summary
Background
A small contractor company asked the Court to review whether the federal workplace-safety agency can make rules whenever it finds them “reasonably necessary or appropriate.” The dispute grew from a challenge to the agency’s statutory grant of power, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld that grant over a dissent by Judge Nalbandian. The petition for the Supreme Court to take the case was denied on July 2, 2024.
Reasoning
The Supreme Court’s majority declined to hear the question, so it did not decide whether that grant of authority violates the Constitution. Justice Thomas dissented from the denial and said he would grant review. He argued the current test that allows broad delegations—the so-called “intelligible principle” test—fails to enforce the Constitution’s rule that Congress must make laws, not agencies. He described the OSHA grant as extremely broad, potentially covering many everyday products and activities, and urged the Court to reconsider the legal standard.
Real world impact
Because the Court declined review, OSHA’s authority remains in effect for now. The agency’s power, as described in the opinion, can reach many businesses and workplace settings across the country. This denial is not a final ruling on the constitutional question; the issue could return to the Court later for a full decision on the merits.
Dissents or concurrances
Justice Thomas’s dissent is the key opinion here: he would have taken the case to reconsider whether Congress may give agencies such sweeping lawmaking power and criticized the current legal test as insufficient.
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