Whether courts can defer to the construction of a statute by the Department of Veterans Affairs without first considering whether the statute permits a pro-veteran construction pursuant to the Pro-Veteran Canon

QUESTIONS PRESENTED The central premise of deference to agency interpretations under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), is that statutory ambiguity marks a delegation of authority from Congress. Because Congress legislates against the backdrop of canons of statutory construction, courts must employ all applicable canons to determine whether Congress has in fact delegated interpretative authority to an agency. Id. at 843 n.9. Here, the Federal Circuit concluded that provisions in the Caregiver Act were ambiguous and therefore interpretations from the Department of Veterans Affairs were entitled to deference without first applying the ProVeteran Canon. The questions presented are: 1. Whether courts can defer to the construction of a statute by the Department of Veterans Affairs without first considering whether the statute permits a proveteran construction pursuant to the Pro-Veteran Canon. 2. Whether Chevron should be clarified or replaced to protect canons of construction, including the ProVeteran Canon, from becoming a nullity. @)