The US Supreme Court is primed to recalibrate government power

TWO WEEKS before America’s Supreme Court considers whether Donald Trump may constitutionally remain on the presidential ballot, it will tackle a question closely tied to Mr Trump’s deregulatory plans for a second term. The power of some 436 federal agencies that do the bulk of the work of the federal government—from food safety to banking rules to pollution control—comes under the justices’ scrutiny on January 17th.

Herring—a silvery fish of the North Atlantic that can be smoked, pickled or, when young, tinned—is the unlikely star of Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo and Relentless v Department of Commerce. Both cases involve herring fishermen upset with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a federal agency charged with safeguarding America’s ocean resources and habitat.