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16 

UNITED STATES v. ARTHREX, INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

adjudication  that  takes  place  outside  the  confines  of 
§557(b).  Walker & Wasserman, The New World of Agency
Adjudication, 107 Cal. L. Rev. 141, 157 (2019).  To take one 
example recently discussed by this Court in Free Enterprise 
Fund, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board can
issue sanctions in disciplinary proceedings, but such sanc-
tions are reviewable by its superior, the Securities and Ex-
change Commission.  15 U. S. C. §§7215(c)(4), 7217(c). 

The Government and Smith & Nephew point to a handful
of contemporary officers who are appointed by heads of de-
partments but who nevertheless purportedly exercise final 
decisionmaking authority.  Several examples, however, in-
volve inferior officers whose decisions a superior executive 
officer can review or implement a system for reviewing.  For 
instance,  the  special  trial  judges  in  Freytag  v.  Commis-
sioner, 501 U. S. 868 (1991), may enter a decision on behalf 
of  the  Tax  Court—whose  members  are  nominated  by  the 
President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  26  U. S. C.
§7443(b)—but only “subject to such conditions and review
as  the  court  may  provide.”  §7443A(c);  see  also  8  CFR
§1003.0(a) (2020) (establishing Executive Office for Immi-
gration  Review  under  control  of  Attorney  General).    And 
while the Board of Veteran Affairs does make the final de-
cision within the Department of Veteran Affairs, 38 U. S. C.
§§7101, 7104(a), its decisions are reviewed by the Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims, an Executive Branch entity,
§§7251, 7252(a).  See Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U. S. 428, 
431–432  (2011).    Other  examples  are  potentially  distin-
guishable, such as the Benefits Review Board members who 
appear  to  serve  at  the  pleasure  of  the  appointing  depart-
ment head.  See 33 U. S. C. §921(c); Kalaris v. Donovan, 697 
F. 2d 376, 396–397 (CADC 1983).

Perhaps the Civilian and Postal Boards of Contract Ap-
peals are most similar to the PTAB.  The Administrator of 
General Services and the Postmaster General appoint the