556 U.S. 502 (2009)
FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc.
Under the APA, must an agency provide a heightened or more rigorous justification when it changes a longstanding policy, and did the FCC provide an adequate reasoned explanation for its decision to treat "fleeting expletives" as actionable indecency?
Under APA § 706(2)(A), a court shall set aside agency action that is arbitrary or capricious. An agency changing policy must (1) acknowledge it is changing position, and (2) show that there are good reasons for the new policy. The APA does not impose a heightened standard merely because a policy has changed; the agency need not show that the new policy is better than the old or that the prior policy was unlawful. However, where the new policy rests on factual findings that contradict those underlying the prior policy, or where the prior policy has engendered serious reliance interests, the agency must provide a more detailed justification that reasonably considers those interests and explains the departure.
No heightened standard applies to agency policy changes. The FCC acknowledged its change in approach and offered a reasoned explanation for treating fleeting expletives as potentially indecent. The Second Circuit erred in requiring more. The Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Fox established the modern framework for reviewing agency policy reversals: no heightened scrutiny, but a clear duty to acknowledge the change and provide a reasoned explanation, with special attention to contradictory factual findings and reliance interests. The decision underpins later cases—such as Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro (2016) and DHS v. Regents of the University of California (2020)—that fault agencies for failing to consider reliance interests or for offering inadequate explanations when reversing policy. For students, Fox is essential for understanding arbitrary-and-capricious review, the limits of judicial scrutiny of agency policymaking, and how administrative law structures agency flexibility and accountability.