US Supreme Court Deals Another Blow to Federal Agencies’ Power in Truck Stop Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt another blow to federal agencies on Monday by allowing challenges to regulations long after they take effect.

The court ruled 6-3 on ideological grounds in favor of a North Dakota truck-service gas station that wants to sue its owner over debit card fee regulations that a federal appeals court upheld 10 years ago — even though federal law sets a six-year deadline for filing such lawsuits.

The decision is expected to lead to a “tsunami of lawsuits against the agencies,” Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissenting opinion.

During the proceedings, the federal government warned that if the court sided with the gas station, opponents of any regulation would be able to challenge it indefinitely by simply finding a new company willing to sue.