Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-1008_1b82.pdf
Page Number: 30

2 

CORNER POST, INC. v. BOARD OF GOVERNORS, FRS 

KAVANAUGH, J., concurring 

by  the  rule  in  the  first  place.  Instead,  the  unregulated
plaintiff  can  obtain  meaningful  relief  only  if  the  APA 
authorizes  vacatur  of  the  agency  rule,  thereby  remedying
the  adverse  downstream  effects  of  the  rule  on  the 
unregulated plaintiff.

The APA empowers federal courts to “hold unlawful and 
set aside agency action” that, as relevant here, is arbitrary 
and capricious or is contrary to law.  5 U. S. C. §706(2).  The 
Federal  Government  and  the  federal  courts  have  long
understood §706(2) to authorize vacatur of unlawful agency 
rules, including in suits by unregulated plaintiffs who are 
adversely affected by an agency’s regulation of others. 

Recently,  the  Government  has  advanced  a  far-reaching
argument that the APA does not allow vacatur.  See Brief 
for Respondent 42; Brief for United States in United States 
v. Texas, O. T. 2022, No. 22–58, pp. 40–44.  Invoking a few 
law  review  articles,  the  Government  contends  that  the 
APA’s  authorization  to  “set  aside”  agency  action  does  not 
allow vacatur, but instead permits a court only to enjoin an 
agency from enforcing a rule against the plaintiff. 

If the Government were correct on that point, Corner Post
could not obtain any relief in this suit because, to reiterate,
Corner Post is not regulated by the rule to begin with.  And 
the  APA  would  supply  no  remedy  for  most  other 
unregulated  but  adversely  affected  parties  who 
traditionally have brought, and regularly still bring, APA
suits challenging agency rules.

The  Government’s  position  would  revolutionize  long-
settled  administrative  law—shutting  the  door  on  entire 
classes  of  everyday  administrative  law  cases. 
The 
Government’s  newly  minted  position  is  both  novel  and 
wrong.  It “disregards a lot of history and a lot of law.”  M. 
Sohoni,  The  Past  and  Future  of  Universal  Vacatur,  133 
Yale L. J. 2305, 2311 (2024). 

The  APA  authorizes  vacatur  of  agency  rules;  therefore,

Corner Post can obtain relief in this case.