The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday over whether to overturn a key precedent, one that has empowered executive agencies and frustrated business groups hostile to government regulation.

The court, which has in recent years rejected precedents on abortion and affirmative action and struck down regulations addressing climate change, student loans and coronavirus vaccines, will consider the fate of a foundational doctrine of administrative law called Chevron deference.

The doctrine takes its name from a 1984 decision, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the most cited cases in American law. Discarding it could threaten regulations in countless areas, including the environment, health care, consumer safety, nuclear energy and government benefit programs. It would also transfer power from agencies to Congress and the courts.

“Overruling Chevron,” Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar wrote in a Supreme Court brief defending the doctrine, “would be a convulsive shock to the legal system.”