Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19-402_o75p.pdf
Page Number: 9.0

Cite as:  589 U. S. ____ (2020) 

9 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

the will of the Legislature; or, in other words, to the will of 
the law.”  Osborn v. Bank of United States, 9 Wheat. 738, 
866  (1824)  (Marshall,  C. J.,  for  the  Court).    But  Brand  X 
directs courts to give effect to the will of the Executive by 
depriving judges of the ability to follow their own precedent. 
This rule raises grave Article III concerns, no less than if it 
allowed judges to substitute their policy preferences for the
original meaning of a statute.

The Article III duty to decide cases even when the Exec-
utive  disagrees  with  the  conclusion  has  long  been  recog-
nized by this Court.  In a statutory interpretation case in 
1841,  the  Court  acknowledged  “the  uniform  construction 
given to the act . . . ever since its passage, by the Treasury
Department,” but stated that “if it is not in conformity to
the true intendment and provisions of the law, it cannot be
permitted to conclude the judgment of a Court of justice.” 
Dickson,  15  Pet.,  at  161.    Justice  Story,  writing  for  the
Court, admonished that 

“it is not to be forgotten, that ours is a government of 
laws, and not of men; and that the Judicial Department 
has  imposed  upon  it,  by  the  Constitution,  the  solemn
duty to interpret the laws, in the last resort; and how-
ever disagreeable that duty may be, in cases where its 
own judgment shall differ from that of other high func-
tionaries, it is not at liberty to surrender, or to waive 
it.”  Id., at 162. 

Brand  X  is  in  serious  tension  with  this  understanding  of
Article III.
  Brand X takes on the constitutional deficiencies of Chev-
ron and exacerbates them.  Chevron requires judges to sur-
render their independent judgment to the will of the Exec-
utive, see supra, at 3; Brand X forces them to do so despite 
a controlling precedent.  Chevron transfers power to agen-
cies, see supra, at 3; Brand X gives agencies the power to