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Notes -
Great point there.
People who have recently come to support Chevron deference should be happy with a precedent that holds that Executive Branch actors are generally safe from prosecution for actions they take in their official capacity, even if found to be illegal/unconstitutional later.
If the Court had done the 'opposite,' that is, left Chevron in place but decided that immunity just wasn't a thing for the President and his appointees, then the new front that would potentially open up would be states seeking to sue and arrest, personally, the heads of various agencies for actions taken against their citizens. Okay, that could run afoul of the Supremacy Clause in most cases, but once those people leave office then they would have to be consistently concerned that they'd be brought in to answer for some order they gave during their tenure.
Hell, there's no reason why DOJ couldn't prosecute the officials for taking ultra vires action under color of federal authority itself, without relying on the states at all. Seems like a great way for a new president to get around civil service protections and clean house.
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