Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/488/93/case.html
Timestamp: 2016-10-25 21:00:47
Document Index: 371550681

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 831', '§ 831', '§ 1', '§ 832', '§ 832', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 833', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 833', '§ 833', '§ 7532', '§ 833', '§ 7532', '§ 833', '§ 7532', '§ 833', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 7532', '§ 831', '§ 7532', '§ 831', '§ 832', '§ 832', '§ 7532']

Carlucci v. Doe (full text) :: 488 U.S. 93 (1988) :: Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center Log In
› Carlucci v. Doe
Carlucci v. Doe 488 U.S. 93 (1988)
U.S. Supreme CourtCarlucci v. Doe, 488 U.S. 93 (1988)Carlucci v. DoeNo. 87-751Argued October 11, 1988Decided December 6, 1988488 U.S. 93CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
(a) Although the 1959 NSA Act expressly confers only appointment power upon the Secretary, and does not refer to termination, nevertheless, Page 488 U. S. 94 as a matter of statutory construction, the power of removal from office is incident to the power of appointment, absent a specific provision to the contrary. Keim v. United States, 177 U. S. 290. There has been no showing that Congress expressly or impliedly indicated a contrary purpose in the 1959 NSA Act or its subsequent amendments. P. 488 U. S. 99.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. Page 488 U. S. 95
Section 7532 of Title 5 of the United States Code, on which the Court of Appeals relied, was passed in 1950 and reenacted and codified in 1966, as part of Chapter 75 of Title 5, the Chapter that deals with adverse actions against employees of the United States. See 5 U.S.C. § 7532. The section provides that the head of an agency "may suspend without pay" an employee when he considers such action "necessary in the interests of national security," see § 7532(a), and "may remove" the suspended employee if such action is "necessary or advisable in the interests of national security." § 7532(b). Subsection (c) of § 7532 specifies the procedural protections to which a suspended employee is entitled prior to removal. [Footnote 1] Page 488 U. S. 96
In 1964, Congress amended the Internal Security Act of 1950 by passing an Act relating to "Personnel Security Procedures in the National Security Agency." 78 Stat. 168, 50 U.S.C. §§ 831-833 (NSA Personnel Security Procedures Act). Section 831 requires the Secretary of Defense to promulgate regulations assuring that no person will be employed Page 488 U. S. 97 or continue to be employed by NSA or have access to classified information unless such employment or access is "clearly consistent with the national security." The Secretary's determination is final. The Secretary's authority under § 831 has been delegated to the NSA Director and implemented through regulations, including a regulation requiring security clearance for employment at NSA. See PMM, Ch. 371, §§ 1-1, 1-3. Section 832(a) proscribes NSA employment to any person not subjected to a full field investigation and "cleared for access to classified information." In addition, Congress directs that boards of appraisal are to assist in appraising the loyalty and suitability of persons for access to classified information in those cases where the NSA Director doubts such suitability. § 832(b). Section 833(a) gives the Secretary authority to terminate the employment of any NSA officer or employee whenever he considers that action "to be in the interest of the United States" and determines that the procedures stated in other provisions of the law "cannot be invoked consistently with national security."
This case began in 1982, when John Doe, a cryptographic material control technician at NSA for 16 years, disclosed to NSA officials that he had engaged in homosexual relationships with foreign nationals. Doe was notified of his proposed removal pursuant to Chapter 370 of the PMM, which governs NSA's procedures for removal for cause. The notification letter of Virginia C. Jenkins, Director of Civilian Personnel, was dated November 23, 1982, and explained that Doe's "indiscriminate personal conduct with unidentified foreign nationals" makes impossible his continued -- and essential to NSA employment -- access to classified information. See App. in No. 86-5395 (CADC), p. 83. The notice also advised Doe of his adjudicatory rights to contest the decision, which rights he exercised through counsel, including in his answer the results of a psychiatric evaluation as to his security threat. Pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 832(b), the NSA Director convened a board of appraisal, which ultimately concluded Page 488 U. S. 98 that Doe's access to classified material was "clearly inconsistent with the national security." See App. in No. 5395 (CADC), p. 108. After a hearing before the Director, Doe was notified that his security clearance was being revoked. Because this clearance is a condition of NSA employment, the Director, pursuant to the authority delegated to him under the 1959 NSA Act, removed Doe. Relying on 5 U.S.C. § 7532, Doe then requested a hearing before the Secretary of Defense, claiming that the 1959 NSA Act does not authorize removals, and that he could only be discharged by the Secretary after a hearing before that official or his designee. Both the Secretary and the Director replied that Doe's removal was "for cause" under Chapter 370 of the PMM, and was not pursuant to the Secretary's § 7532 summary authority.
The Court of Appeals reversed as to the optional applicability of § 7532 and vacated the remainder of the District Court's decision. Doe v. Weinberger, 820 F.2d 1275 (1987). The Court of Appeals was of the view that the chronology of congressional action indicates that § 7532, which predates the establishment of NSA, must control NSA employee dismissals Page 488 U. S. 99 on national security grounds. The Court acknowledged § 833's parallel summary removal scheme, but held that, because the NSA Director disclaimed reliance on that section, remand to NSA for compliance with § 7532 was obligatory. We granted the Secretary's petition for certiorari. 485 U.S. 904 (1988).
The Court of Appeals, however, held that removals for national security reasons must occur under either 5 U.S.C. § 7532 or 50 U.S.C. § 833, and that, because NSA disclaimed reliance on § 833, resort to § 7532, rather than NSA's for-cause removal regulations, was mandatory. In our view, however, § 833 and § 7532 are not the exclusive means to remove NSA employees for national security reasons, but instead contemplate alternative recourse to NSA's ordinary removal mechanisms pursuant to the 1959 NSA Act. This discretionary aspect Page 488 U. S. 100 of §§ 833 and 7532 is manifest in both the express statutory language and also the legislative history of these provisions.
Section 7532 also is not mandatory. It provides that, "[n]otwithstanding other statutes," the head of an agency "may" suspend and remove employees "in the interests of national security." This language declares that, even though other statutes might not permit it, the Secretary may authorize removals pursuant to § 7532 procedures, rather than those governing terminations under those other laws. The Court of Appeals did not expressly address the permissive character of the section, and construed the statute to require the Secretary, in all cases of removal based on national security, to resort to the removal procedures of § 833 or § 7532, notwithstanding other available statutory removal regimes. Page 488 U. S. 101
The Court of Appeals reached this conclusion by relying on two sentences from the House Report on the bill that ultimately became the predecessor to § 7532. These sentences state that the bill guarantees employees in various agencies, including the Department of Defense, the right to appeal to the head of the department in removal cases covered by § 7532. [Footnote 3] This passage, however, does not indicate that § 7532 procedures are the exclusive means for removals on national security grounds, or that § 7532 displaces the otherwise applicable removal provisions of the agencies covered by the section. [Footnote 4] Read as the Court of Appeals understood them, the two sentences confound the permissive language of the statute, and are inconsistent with other evidence from the legislative history. [Footnote 5] Page 488 U. S. 102
Indeed, when Congress passed the NSA Personnel Security Procedures Act in 1964, 50 U.S.C. §§ 831-833, Congress must have intended that § 7532 did not impose this restriction on the various affected agencies. The stringency would conflict with the provisions of that Act that require the Secretary to apply general security considerations in selecting NSA employees. Just as the Secretary need only find "inconsistency" with national security to reject an applicant seeking the necessary NSA clearance for classified information, see § 831, so too the boards of appraisal that assist in this determination are authorized to recommend denial or cancellation of such clearance if the NSA Director "doubt[s]" that clearance is consistent with national security. See Page 488 U. S. 103 § 832(b). The Secretary, in turn, must adhere to a board's recommendation unless he makes the affirmative finding that clearance is in the national interest. See ibid. Under the construction adopted by the Court of Appeals, however, the revocation of a security clearance ordered by NSA pursuant to a board's recommendation will not suffice for the dismissal mandated by § 832(a), but rather would require further review by the Secretary under the more stringent standard imposed by § 7532.
"to increase the authority of the heads of Government departments engaged in sensitive activities to Page 488 U. S. 104 summarily suspend employees considered to be bad security risks, and to terminate their services if subsequent investigation develops facts which support such action."