Criminal Law Library Blog
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Cost Estimate July 9, 2025.
In the context of the US Congress, SOPRA refers to the Separation of Powers Restoration Act. It’s a legislative proposal aimed at amending the Administrative Procedure Act to change how courts review agency actions. Specifically, SOPRA seeks to eliminate the practice of “Chevron deference,” where courts defer to an agency’s interpretation of a law if it’s deemed reasonable, and instead require courts to review legal questions de novo, meaning without deference to the agency’s interpretation.
COST ESTIMATE LETTER JULY 9 2025
H.R. 1605 would authorize federal courts that review agency actions to decide all relevant
questions of law, including the interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions and
rules, without deferring to previous legal determinations by the agency.
Under the bill, federal courts could overturn some agency decisions that they would have
upheld under current law. Some of those decisions could affect federal spending by
overturning regulations that affect direct spending, revenues, and spending subject to
appropriation. However, CBO has no basis for estimating either the likelihood that such
actions would be overturned or what the effects on spending might be.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The estimate was reviewed by
H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.