Opinion ID: 544933
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Would The Administrative Remedy Have Been Futile?

Text: 31 The vendors further claim that any administrative proceedings would have been futile because they sought to prove that the set-asides collected by the State prior to federal approval were illegally exacted and that an agreement previously reached by the parties precluded the collection of those set-asides. Because they are seeking to nullify the State's prior action, the vendors argue that a hearing would be futile: when the defendants are the decision-makers, there can be no doubt as to the outcome. 32 However, such is the case in almost any suit challenging agency action. If the vendors' argument were accepted to relieve their requirement of exhaustion, the doctrine of requiring the exhaustion of administrative remedies would be eviscerated. See Randolph-Sheppard Vendors, 795 F.2d at 105 (for administrative remedy to be futile it must be clearly useless, not just unlikely). The vendors have made no showing that the DVR will rule against their claims. Cf. Committee of Blind Vendors v. Dist. of Columbia, 695 F.Supp. 1234, 1239-40 (D.D.C.1988) (exhaustion futile when agency that holds hearing has no jurisdiction to decide case). 33