More use will be made of US courts to regulate

Significance

Congress regulates industry by giving legal directions to government departments, but that role has declined with Congress under split control, since legislating is harder. The courts have become the main regulatory mechanism.

Impacts

• To regulate industries, judges will need to broaden their jurisdictional authority or grant further executive branch authority.
• If Trump wins re-election, he will appoint additional conservative justices via a Republican-controlled Senate.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has already seen the Supreme Court delay hearings; more such delays are coming.
• Congress Democrats would sue Trump and Congress Republicans would sue Biden over policy differences.