Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Peña

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge,

with whom POSNER, Chief Judge, and MANION, Circuit Judge, join, concurring.

When judges speak of “deference” to an administrative decision or interpretation, they may mean any of three situations:

• Delegation. When Congress has given an agency the power to adopt legal norms via formal rule-making or administrative adjudication, the court must accept action within the scope of the delegated power the same way it accepts legislation.

• Respect. When the statute tells the executive branch to achieve a goal, the choices made in pursuit of that objective are political in…