Published
September 17, 2026
For a family-owned manufacturer in Ohio, regulatory certainty can mean the difference between investing in a new production line or delaying expansion. For a trucking company in Texas, it can determine whether capital is spent on hiring drivers and upgrading equipment or navigating layers of compliance requirements. And for a startup entrepreneur, it can mean spending time building a business instead of filling out paperwork.
That is why regulatory policy matters. It is not an abstract debate confined to Washington. It directly affects the ability of businesses to invest, hire, innovate, and grow.
Many of the Trump Administration's deregulatory efforts are already helping reduce unnecessary burdens on businesses across the country. But too often, regulatory changes are temporary. Lawsuits can delay or invalidate reforms. What may seem like a major policy win today can disappear tomorrow unless it survives judicial scrutiny.
That is where the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center plays a critical role.
The Chamber's mission is not simply to advocate for pro-growth policies in the halls of government. It is to ensure that those policies can withstand legal challenge and endure. That means defending lawful deregulatory efforts when they come under attack. It also means challenging legally vulnerable regulations that exceed statutory authority or impose unjustified costs on businesses and consumers.
In other words, the Chamber is fighting on two fronts at once.
First, we are defending the Trump Administration's efforts to rein in regulatory overreach, helping ensure those reforms are not undone through litigation. Lawsuits challenging a regulation can take years to resolve which means it is critical that someone defend the deregulation once the administration that issued it is no longer in office. The legal precedents established in court often determine whether reforms endure for years or vanish with the next political shift.
Second, we continue to challenge excessive and unlawful regulation from the Biden Administration. The Chamber's work in these cases is helping establish lasting limits on administrative overreach and protecting businesses from costly and burdensome mandates.
Many of these cases ultimately reach appellate courts, where the most consequential legal precedents are established. These courts do more than resolve individual disputes. Their decisions shape how agencies exercise power, define the limits of regulatory authority, and influence federal policy for years to come.
The results have been impressive. In adjudicated cases where the Chamber intervened to defend a rule issued by the first Trump Administration, we secured seven wins against only two losses, with two mixed decisions. In our lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s regulatory tsunami, we are 13-4 thus far. That is a remarkable record in regulatory litigation, where the issues are complex, the stakes are high, and success is never guaranteed.
The work also extends beyond Washington. While federal policy receives the most attention, many of the most significant emerging threats to economic growth now arise in the states. Increasingly, federal deregulation is met with state overregulation as states pursue expansive regulatory schemes that impose substantial costs on businesses operating nationwide.
The Chamber has been deeply engaged in these fights as well. We secured a major victory blocking California's climate disclosure regime from taking effect and successfully challenged New York's Climate Change Superfund Act, a law that sought to impose $75 billion in retroactive penalties on energy producers for conduct that remains lawful today. The federal government supported the challenge, underscoring the seriousness of the legal and economic concerns raised by the statute.
These lawsuits are not simply contests among lawyers, regulators, and government officials. Their outcomes determine whether businesses devote resources to investment or compliance. They influence energy costs, consumer prices, innovation, and economic competitiveness. They ultimately affect workers, families, and communities across the country.
Whether defending the Trump Administration's efforts to reduce unnecessary regulation, challenging burdensome rules adopted during the Biden Administration, or confronting state-level policies that threaten economic growth, the Chamber is pursuing the same objective: ensuring that government operates within the law while preserving the conditions businesses need to invest, compete, and create jobs.
About the author
Daryl Joseffer
Daryl Joseffer is president at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A former principal deputy solicitor general, Joseffer has argued 12 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and briefed many more. He has argued dozens of appeals in other courts across the country.
