The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments over the Biden administration‘s objections to a Rio Grande water compact between three Western states, prompting Justice Neil Gorsuch to quip that he’s coming to “regret” his 2018 ruling that said the federal government had special interests in the plan.
During oral arguments in the case known as Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado, several of the justices expressed skepticism that the Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction in disputes between states, was the proper venue to resolve the Biden administration’s objections to the water deal.
“You’re not a party in the sense that you have some interest here other than in administering the compact,” Gorsuch told Justice Department Assistant Solicitor General Frederick Liu. “At the end of the day, it’s a compact between states that we’re adjudicating here.”
Justice Neil Gorsuch (Washington Examiner/Graeme Jennings) | Graeme Jennings
The water dispute before the justices on Wednesday began in 2013 when Texas accus …