What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to identify the federal agency involved in the administrative action that occurred prior to the onset of litigation. If the administrative action occurred in a state agency, respond "State Agency". Do not code the name of the state. The administrative activity may involve an administrative official as well as that of an agency. If two federal agencies are mentioned, consider the one whose action more directly bears on the dispute;otherwise the agency that acted more recently. If a state and federal agency are mentioned, consider the federal agency. Pay particular attention to the material which appears in the summary of the case preceding the Court's opinion and, if necessary, those portions of the prevailing opinion headed by a I or II. Action by an agency official is considered to be administrative action except when such an official acts to enforce criminal law. If an agency or agency official "denies" a "request" that action be taken, such denials are considered agency action. Exclude: a "challenge" to an unapplied agency rule, regulation, etc.; a request for an injunction or a declaratory judgment against agency action which, though anticipated, has not yet occurred; a mere request for an agency to take action when there is no evidence that the agency did so; agency or official action to enforce criminal law; the hiring and firing of political appointees or the procedures whereby public officials are appointed to office; attorney general preclearance actions pertaining to voting; filing fees or nominating petitions required for access to the ballot; actions of courts martial; land condemnation suits and quiet title actions instituted in a court; and federally funded private nonprofit organizations.

Opinion:
LEWIS et al. v. MARTIN, DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE, et al.
No. 829.
Argued March 3-4, 1970
Decided April 20, 1970
Anthony G. Amsterdam argued the cause for appellants. On the brief were Rubin Tepper, Steven J. Antler, and Peter Sitkin.
Jay S. Linderman, Deputy Attorney General of California, argued the cause for appellees. With him on the brief were Thomas C. Lynch, Attorney General, and Elizabeth Palmer, Deputy Attorney General.
Francis X. Beytagh, Jr., argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging reversal. On the brief were Solicitor General Griswold, Assistant Attorney General Ruckelshaus, Lawrence G. Wallace, and Alan S. Rosenthal. Martin Garbus and Carl Rachlin filed a brief for the Center on Social Welfare Policy & Law et al. as amici curiae urging reversal.
Mr. Justice Douglas
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellants are mothers and children who receive welfare assistance under California law. At the time these actions were commenced, California law provided that payments to a “needy child” who “lives with his mother and a stepfather or an adult male person assuming the role of spouse to the mother although not legally married to her” — known in the vernacular as a MARS— shall be computed after consideration is given to the income of the stepfather or MARS. The California law conclusively presumes that the needs of the children are reduced by the amount of income available from the man in the house whether or not it is in fact available or actually used to meet the needs of the dependent children.
Following our decision in King v. Smith, 392 U. S. 309, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) promulgated a regulation reaffirming its earlier rulings that the income of a man not ceremonially married to the mother of the dependent children may not be treated as available to the children unless there is proof that he has made actual contributions. Even where the man is ceremonially married to the mother but is not the real or adoptive father, his income may not be treated as available to the children unless he is legally obligated to support the children by state law.
These suits by appellants were brought in a three-judge District Court to have the California law and regulations declared invalid. That court dismissed the complaints, holding the HEW regulations were invalid. 312 F. Supp. 197. The cases are here on appeal and we noted probable jurisdiction. 396 U. S. 900.
The Social Security Act defines a dependent child as a “needy child . . . who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with” a specified relative. § 406 (a), 49 Stat. 629, 42 U. S. C. § 606 (a). This is the Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program which we discussed in King v. Smith.
The federal statute provides that state agencies administering AFDC plans “shall, in determining need [of an eligible child], take into consideration any other income and resources [of the child] ... as well as any expenses reasonably attributable to the earning of any such income.” 42 U. S. C. § 602 (a) (7) (1964 ed., Supp. IV).
This directive was implemented by a regulation of HEW, effective July 1, 1967, wdiich, as then worded, provided in part:
“[0]nly income and resources that are, in fact, available to an applicant or recipient for current use on a regular basis will be taken into consideration in determining need and the amount of payment.”
We stated in King v. Smith, supra, at 319 n. 16, that those regulations “clearly comport with” the Act. And as we have noted, shortly after King v. Smith, HEW promulgated a new regulation which provided in pertinent part:
“(a) A State plan for aid and services to needy families with children . . . must provide that the determination whether a child has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent . . . will be made only in relation to the child's natural or adoptive parent, or in relation to a child’s stepparent who is ceremonially married to the child’s natural or adoptive parent and is legally obligated to support the child under State law of general applicability which requires stepparents to support stepchildren to the same extent that natural or adoptive parents are required to support their children.
“(b) The inclusion in the family, or the presence in the home, of a ‘substitute parent’ or ‘man-in-the-house’ or any individual other than one described in paragraph (a) of this section is not an acceptable basis for a finding of ineligibility or for assuming the availability of income by the State. ... [I]n the consideration of all income and resources in establishing financial eligibility and the amount of the assistance payment, only such net income as is actually available for current use on a regular basis will be considered, and the income only of the parent described in paragraph (a) of this section will be considered available for children in the household in absence of proof of actual contributions.” (Emphasis added.)
In other words, the regulations explicitly negate the idea that in determining a child’s needs, a stepfather (i. e., a man married to a child’s mother but who has not adopted the child and is not legally obligated to support the child under state law) or a MARS may be presumed to be providing support.
We said in King v. Smith that AFDC aid can be granted “only if ‘a parent’ of the needy child is continually absent from the home.” 392 U. S., at 313. If the stepfather or MARS is a “parent” within the meaning of the federal Act, any federal matching assistance under the AFDC program for children living with a MARS or stepfather would not be available to appellants. The three-judge court said that “[t]he HEW regulation, by requiring proof of actual contributions from a MARS, reduces the expectation of Congress to a mere hope.” 312 F. Supp., at 202. We disagree. We traversed the entire spectrum of that question in King v. Smith, and find it unnecessary to restate the legislative history of the relevant statutes. We concluded that Congress “intended the term 'parent’ in § 406 (a) of the Act ... to include only those persons with a legal duty of support.” 392 U. S., at 327. And we went on to say:
“It is clear, as we have noted, that Congress expected 'breadwinners’ who secured employment would support their children. This congressional expectation is most reasonably explained on the basis that the kind of breadwinner Congress had in mind was one who was legally obligated to support his children. We think it beyond reason to believe that Congress would have considered that providing employment for the paramour of a deserted mother would benefit the mother’s children whom he was not obligated to support.
“By a parity of reasoning, we think that Congress must have intended that the children in such a situation remain eligible for AFDC assistance notwithstanding their mother’s impropriety.” Id., at 329.
That reasoning led us to invalidate Alabama’s “substitute father” regulation. Like reasoning leads us to hold, contrary to the three-judge District Court, that the HEW regulation is valid. We only add that HEW might reasonably conclude that only he who is as near as a real or adoptive father would be has that consensual relation to the family which makes it reliably certain that his income is actually available for support of the children in the household. HEW may, in other words, reasonably conclude that an obligation to support under state law must be of “general applicability” to make that obligation in reality a solid assumption on which estimates of funds actually available to children on a regular basis may be calculated.
Any lesser duty of support might merely be a device for lowering welfare benefits without guaranteeing that the child would regularly receive the income on which the reduction is based, that is to say, it would not approximate the obligation to support placed on and normally assumed by natural or adoptive parents. That reading of the Act and of King v. Smith certainly cannot be said to be impermissible.
Our decision in King v. Smith held only that a legal obligation to support was a necessary condition for qualification as a “parent”; it did not also suggest that it would always be a sufficient condition. We find nothing in this regulation to suggest inconsistency with the Act’s basic purpose of providing aid to “needy” children, except where there is a “breadwinner” in the house who can be expected to provide such aid himself. HEW, the agency charged with administering the Act, has apparently concluded that as a matter of current, practical realities, the relationship of the MARS to the home is less stable than that of the stepfather who at least has the additional tie of the ceremonial marriage, and that the likelihood of the MARS’ contributing his income to the children — even if legally obligated to do so — is sufficiently uncertain in the absence of the marriage tie, to prevent viewing him as a “breadwinner” unless the bread is actually set on the table. Nothing in this record shows that this administrative judgment does not correspond to the facts. We give HEW the deference due the agency charged with the administration of the Act, see, e. g., Red Lion Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. FCC, 395 U. S. 367, 381; Zemel v. Rusk, 381 U. S. 1, 11-12. In the absence of proof of actual con-”| tribution, California may not consider the child's “resources” to include either the income of a nonadopting stepfather who is not legally obligated to support the child as is a natural parent, or the income of a MARS— [^whatever the nature of his obligation to support.
California on remand is foreclosed from arguing that its assumption-of-income provisions are consistent with the Act as applied to MARS; the State is limited to demonstrating that those provisions may be retained under the Act as applied to nonadopting stepfathers by showing that the legal obligation placed on such stepparents is consistent with the obligation required by the federal regulation.
Whether in that posture of the case California’s laws and regulations are inconsistent with the federal standard is a question that the District Court did not reach. The case is therefore reversed and remanded so that such an adjudication can be made.
It is so ordered.
Some of the appellants sue on behalf of themselves, their children, a man assuming the role of spouse (MARS), and all others similarly situated. There are also intervenors who represent two families, one with a stepfather and another with a MARS.
Cal. Welf. & Inst’ns Code § 11351 (1966).
On September 3, 1969, the Governor of California signed into law a new § 11351.5 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code, vrfiich became effective November 10, 1969. It leaves unchanged § 11351 and implementing regulations insofar as they apply to a stepfather, but repeals the old § 11351 insofar as it applied to “an adult male person assuming the role of spouse.” Under the new law, a MARS “shall be required to make a financial contribution to the family which shall not be less than it -would cost him to provide himself with an independent living arrangement.” The new law also provides that, under regulations to be promulgated by the State Welfare Department, the MARS and the mother will be required to present the Department with “all of the facts in connection with the sharing of expenses . . . .”
The California regulations that governed a MARS at the time these suits were brought were Cal. State Dept, of Social Welfare, Public Social Services Manual §§ 42-535 (effective Nov. 1, 1967), 44-133.5 (effective July 1, 1967). As to a stepfather, the pertinent regulations were id. §§42-531 (effective Nov. 1, 1967), 4A-113.242 (effective July 1, 1967).
For criminal sanctions against a natural father who fails to support his children see Cal. Penal Code §270; Cal. Welf. & Inst’ns Code §§ 11476-11477 (1966).
45 CFR §203.1.
Id., §203.1 (a).
HEW Handbook of Public Assistance Administration, pt. IV, § 3131.7. In its present form the regula,tion provides:
“(ii) ... in establishing financial eligibility and the amount of the assistance payment: . . . (e) only such net income as is actually available for current use on a regular basis will be conádered, and only currently available resources will be considered.” 45 CFR §233.20 (a) (3) (ii), 34 Fed. Reg. 1395.
45 CFR. § 203.1.
An exception is a, person whose presence is deemed essential to the well-being of the recipient of assistance and who is included in the family budget unit for calculation of need. See 42 U. S. C. § 602 (a) (7) (1964 ed., Supp. IV) which provides:
“A State plan . . . must . . . provide that the State agency shall, in determining need, take into consideration any other income and resources of any child or relative claiming aid to families with dependent children, or of any other individual (living in the same home as such child and relative) whose needs the State determines should be considered in determining the need of the child or relative claiming such aid, as well as any expenses reasonably attributable to the earning of any such income . . . .”
. . . The so-called AFDC “essential person” is also covered by regulation. See 45 CFR § 233.20 (a) (2) (vi), 34 Fed. Reg. 1394.
“Under the Alabama regulation, an 'able-bodied man, married or single, is considered a substitute father of all the children of the applicant . . . mother’ in three different situations: (1) if ‘he lives in the home with the child’s natural or adoptive mother for the purpose of cohabitation’; or (2) if ‘he visits [the home] frequently for the purpose of cohabiting with the child’s natural or adoptive mother’; or (3) if ‘he does not frequent the home but cohabits with the child’s natural or adoptive mother elsewhere.' Whether the substitute father is actually the father of the children is irrelevant. It is also irrelevant whether he is legally obligated to support the children, and whether he does in fact contribute to their support. What is determinative is simply whether he ‘cohabits’ with the mother.” 392 U. S., at 313-314.

Question: What is the agency involved in the administrative action?

Choices:
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
Atomic Energy Commission
Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Air Force
Department or Secretary of Agriculture
Alien Property Custodian
Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Army
Board of Immigration Appeals
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Prisons
Bonneville Power Administration
Benefits Review Board
Civil Aeronautics Board
Bureau of the Census
Central Intelligence Agency
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Department or Secretary of Commerce
Comptroller of Currency
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Civil Rights Commission
Civil Service Commission, U.S.
Customs Service or Commissioner or Collector of Customs
Defense Base Closure and REalignment Commission
Drug Enforcement Agency
Department or Secretary of Defense (and Department or Secretary of War)
Department or Secretary of Energy
Department or Secretary of the Interior
Department of Justice or Attorney General
Department or Secretary of State
Department or Secretary of Transportation
Department or Secretary of Education
U.S. Employees' Compensation Commission, or Commissioner
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Environmental Protection Agency or Administrator
Federal Aviation Agency or Administration
Federal Bureau of Investigation or Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Farm Credit Administration
Federal Communications Commission (including a predecessor, Federal Radio Commission)
Federal Credit Union Administration
Food and Drug Administration
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Energy Administration
Federal Election Commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Federal Housing Administration
Federal Home Loan Bank Board
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Federal Maritime Board
Federal Maritime Commission
Farmers Home Administration
Federal Parole Board
Federal Power Commission
Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Reserve Board of Governors
Federal Reserve System
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation
Federal Trade Commission
Federal Works Administration, or Administrator
General Accounting Office
Comptroller General
General Services Administration
Department or Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
Department or Secretary of Health and Human Services
Department or Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Administrative agency established under an interstate compact (except for the MTC)
Interstate Commerce Commission
Indian Claims Commission
Immigration and Naturalization Service, or Director of, or District Director of, or Immigration and Naturalization Enforcement
Internal Revenue Service, Collector, Commissioner, or District Director of
Information Security Oversight Office
Department or Secretary of Labor
Loyalty Review Board
Legal Services Corporation
Merit Systems Protection Board
Multistate Tax Commission
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Navy
National Credit Union Administration
National Endowment for the Arts
National Enforcement Commission
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Labor Relations Board, or regional office or officer
National Mediation Board
National Railroad Adjustment Board
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
National Security Agency
Office of Economic Opportunity
Office of Management and Budget
Office of Price Administration, or Price Administrator
Office of Personnel Management
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Patent Office, or Commissioner of, or Board of Appeals of
Pay Board (established under the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970)
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
U.S. Public Health Service
Postal Rate Commission
Provider Reimbursement Review Board
Renegotiation Board
Railroad Adjustment Board
Railroad Retirement Board
Subversive Activities Control Board
Small Business Administration
Securities and Exchange Commission
Social Security Administration or Commissioner
Selective Service System
Department or Secretary of the Treasury
Tennessee Valley Authority
United States Forest Service
United States Parole Commission
Postal Service and Post Office, or Postmaster General, or Postmaster
United States Sentencing Commission
Veterans' Administration or Board of Veterans' Appeals
War Production Board
Wage Stabilization Board
State Agency
Unidentifiable
Office of Thrift Supervision
Department of Homeland Security
Board of General Appraisers
Board of Tax Appeals
General Land Office or Commissioners
NO Admin Action
Processing Tax Board of Review

Answer: 61