Whether the Chevron doctrine permits courts to defer to VA's construction of a statute designed to benefit veterans, without first considering the pro-veteran canon of construction

QUESTIONS PRESENTED This Court has repeatedly held that when assessing whether to defer to an _ agency’s interpretation of a statute under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. courts must apply all “traditional tools of statutory construction” at Step One of the analysis. 467 U.S. 837, 843 n.9 (1984). Here, the Federal Circuit refused to apply the pro-veteran canon of construction—an interpretive tool that this Court has regularly invoked for nearly 80 years—when assessing petitioner’s statutory right to resume disability benefits after finishing a period of active duty. The Federal Circuit then deferred to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ implausible construction of the relevant statutes, thereby depriving petitioner of nearly three years of disability benefits to which he was legally entitled. The questions presented are: 1. Whether the Chevron doctrine permits courts to defer to VA’s construction of a statute designed to benefit veterans, without first considering the proveteran canon of construction. 2. Whether Chevron should be overruled.