In the world in which the Chief Justice claims to live, there are clear distinctions in administrative law between law and facts; agencies have special expertise over the latter, but the judiciary has exclusive dibs over the former, which it uses independently and with no interest in creating policy. In reality, the demise of Chevron will create a sandbox for reactionary judges to invalidate longstanding rules that protect the public against groups closely connected with Republicans. That’s the real meaning of today’s decision.
Roberts has been gunning for Chevron for years. He and his ideological allies first cut the legs out from under it with a series of limiting decisions, and then found today that the Court could no longer rely on it as precedent. This kind of bootstrapping is the way he would have handled Roe if it had been up to him.
He’s not a moderate or a swing judge; he just plays the long game.