Court Opinion

ID: 9463993
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:22:36.811108+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:24.323933
License: Public Domain

LEVENTHAL, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur generally in the opinion of the court. As to the ruling on ripeness, on which I add some reflections, my joinder is based on the doctrine that ripeness or lack of ripeness may be rooted in prudential considerations analytically apart from, though often interrelated with, constitutional compulsions. I have serious doubts whether this action is ripe for adjudication in the constitutional sense, but should prefer not to voice a constitutional ruling. What seems to me plain is this, that on the record presented the court should exercise its discretion to withhold declaratory relief.
I. RIPENESS CONSIDERATIONS
This case does not present the legal controversy with sufficient concreteness for a well-considered judicial decision.
The action was brought in July 1976 by Ramsey Clark, identified as an eligible voter and a candidate in the Democratic senatorial primary in New York. He sought judgment declaring the invalidity of sections of the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, 2 U.S.C. § 438(c) and 26 U.S.C. §§ 9009(c), 9039(c). These establish that regulations proposed by the Federal Election Commission will not become effective until they have lain before Congress for 30 legislative days, during which period a single house of Congress may disapprove the regulations. If the regulations have *658not been disapproved by the appropriate action within 30 legislative days, “then the Commission may prescribe such rule or regulation.” Subsequent to Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), the statute was amended, inter alia, so as to specify that the voting members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation. The newly constituted Commission proposed some regulations in the summer of 1976, but Congress adjourned prior to the expiration of the pertinent thirty-day period.
The central issue on the merits is whether it is consistent with our constitutional scheme to provide for disapproval of the Commission’s regulations by an action short of a new statute, and specifically by resolution of one house of Congress.
The constitutional scheme, the Supreme Court has explained, reflects the framers’ desires for both counteraction and cooperation between the major branches:
The men who met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 were practical statesmen, experienced in politics, who viewed the principle of separation of powers as a vital check against tyranny. But they likewise saw that a hermetic sealing off of the three branches of Government from one another would preclude the establishment of a Nation capable of governing itself effectively.
Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 121, 96 S.Ct. 612, 683, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976). Justice Jackson highlighted the inherent tension in the constitutional plan:
While the Constitution diffuses power the better to secure liberty, it also contemplates that practice will integrate the dispersed powers into a workable government. It enjoins upon its branches separateness but interdependence, autonomy but reciprocity.
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, 635, 72 S.Ct. 863, 870, 96 L.Ed. 1153 (1952). In light of the dual purposes of the constitutional framework, any procedural innovation must be examined with close attention to its actual operation: do the specific ways in which it knits the branches together into a working coalition operate to undercut their independence?
To date, there has been no Congressional veto of regulations issued by the Executive-appointed Federal Elections Commission.1 We do not know whether there will ever be such a veto or, if there should be one, what reasons would be given for such a veto, in what manner it would be exercised, or what institutional consequences would flow from it. We know, in short, very little about the operation of the mechanism which is at the heart of the lawsuit.
In Buckley v. Valeo, Congress had exercised the claimed power to appoint the members of the former Commission, and the Commission had begun to carry out some of the functions that were held to be non-legislative. The Supreme Court had a set of facts on the exercise of powers — by the Congress (appointments) and by the Commission (regulations). Here, we have no such specifics as to the exercise by Congress of the power claimed to be beyond its reach. In light of the relative novelty of the procedure questioned here, our need for facts would seem greater.2
*659A too-ready resolution of constitutional questions tends to put the discussion on an abstract level, and this in turn affects the result. One’s view of the one-house veto issue may be affected, for example, if it should develop that Congress itself distinguished between regulations that are “interpretive,” and therefore more aligned with the responsibility of the executive branch, and regulations that are “legislative,” that implement or carry forward a statutory mandate in ways not specified by the statute, and with respect to which a more substantial congressional role might be proper.3 The issue is not addressed in the legislative history of the 1976 amendment specifying that a Commission rule or regulation subject to legislative disapproval is one “stating a . rule of law.”4 Even for non-interpretive regulations, there may be a distinction in terms of the pertinent constitutional question between those that are merely ministerial, or fill in the working details of a reasonably specific standard in a statute, and those that reflect substantial policy choices. It may be relevant whether the house of Congress rejecting the proposed regulation states its reasons along with its disapproval, so that the “legislative” foundation of the basis of that rejection could be presented for court analysis.
Nor can we say, as the Supreme Court said with respect to some of the Commission’s functions in Buckley, that the exercise of the veto power is virtually certain to occur. The fact that there were vetoes for a congressionally appointed commission is not conclusive (see note 1). Congress’s post-Buckley awareness that this is an agency that must under the Constitution be executive-appointed may suggest to the legislature less accessibility of and scope for any veto. In any event we do not know the occasion, reasons or form of any congressional veto that may occur.
*660Plaintiffs argue that the possibility of a congressional veto is presently coercing the Commission to conform its proposals to congressional desires. But even in areas where there is no veto provision in a statute, there is congressional communication and influence — not least through the impact on appropriations, and often through investigations and correspondence as well as formal hearings. Concededly, the Commission staff consulted with congressional staff members and accepted some of their suggestions concerning regulations. But the staff solicited and accepted ideas from other sources. And it rejected other congressional suggestions. The fact that the Commission amended its proposed regulations to incorporate congressional suggestions may reflect not the yoke of a veto but a genuine reconsideration by the Commission in light of more complete information and analysis.5
II. PRUDENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS
That this case is inappropriate for a major constitutional adjudication is clear from a cluster of prudential considerations, and in this context the term “prudential” includes jurisprudential, as distinguished from mere convenience in judicial administration.
First, there is a sound doctrinal basis for the exercise of discretion in a case where, as here, plaintiffs seek essentially declaratory relief.6 In Public Affairs Associates, Inc. v. Rickover, 369 U.S. 111, 112, 82 S.Ct. 580, 582, 7 L.Ed.2d 604 (1962), the Court stated:
The Declaratory Judgment Act was an authorization, not a command. It gave the federal courts competence to make a declaration of rights; it did not impose a duty to do so. [Citations omitted.] Of course a District Court cannot decline to entertain such an action as a matter of whim or personal declination. “A declaratory judgment, like other forms of equitable relief, should be granted only as a matter of judicial discretion, exercised in the public interest.” Eccles v. Peoples Bank, 333 U.S. 426, 431, 68 S.Ct. 641, 644, 92 L.Ed. 784. We have cautioned against declaratory judgments on issues of public moment, even falling short of constitutionality, in speculative situations. Eccles v. Peoples Bank, supra, at 432, 68 S.Ct. [641] at 644.
Accord, Public Service Comm’n v. Wycoff Co., 344 U.S. 237, 241, 73 S.Ct. 236, 239, 97 L.Ed. 291 (1952) (Declaratory Judgment Act is “an enabling Act, which confers a discretion on the courts rather than an absolute right upon the litigant”). Decisions of this Circuit recognize the discretion available to the federal courts under the Declaratory Judgment Act. Lampkin v. Connor, 123 U.S.App.D.C. 371, 375, 360 F.2d 505, 509 (1966); Marcello v. Kennedy, 114 U.S.App.D.C. 147, 312 F.2d 874 (1962), cert. denied, 373 U.S. 933, 83 S.Ct. 1536, 10 L.Ed.2d 692 (1963).
In Lampkin v. Connor, supra, Judge McGowan pointed out: “The language of the Act is permissive: ‘[A]ny court of the United States * * * may declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration * * (emphasis added).’ ” He concluded that “[I]t is appropriate, in the context of a declaratory judgment suit, to weigh a wider range of considerations than would be either necessary or appropriate if the only *661issue were one of standing.”7 123 U.S.App. D.C. at 374, 360 F.2d at 509.
The discretion granted by the Declaratory Judgment Act has not been vacated by 2 U.S.C. § 437h. Senator Buckley proposed § 437h as' a measure to provide for expeditious review of fundamental constitutional objections he had raised to the core of the law.8 Section 437h achieves this objective by designating certain individuals and organizations as having an adequate interest to bring a constitutional challenge, by dropping the time required for district court determination, and by expediting review in this court and in the Supreme Court. What § 437h contemplates is that whatever the Court’s ruling, it be announced earlier rather than later. What was sought was expedition of a judicial ruling, not a change in ruling. If the “appropriate” disposition of a case under the Declaratory Judgment Act is prudential dismissal, rather than a ruling on the merits, that is still the appropriate disposition, with an expedited announcement. This approach is congruent with the history of § 437h (see note 8), and with its text.
Section 437h recognizes that traditional forms of action would not be affected by the new law. Subsection (a) provides:
The Commission, the national committee of any political party, or any individual eligible to vote in any election for the office of President of the United States may institute such actions in the appropriate district court of the United States, including actions for declaratory judgment, as may be appropriate to construe the constitutionality of any provision of this Act . . . (emphasis added).
The statute contains a positive direction as to standing, which is precedent to the permission that certain plaintiffs “may institute” actions, cf. Gray v. Greyhound Lines, 178 U.S.App.D.C. 91, 545 F.2d 169 (1976). But the statute leaves it to the court whether the actions instituted are “appropriate.”
On such matters as adjudication and relief, Congressional directions to a court will not be taken as mandatory unless that conclusion is inescapable. See Hecht v, Bowles, 321 U.S. 321, 64 S.Ct. 587, 88 L.Ed. 754 (1944), where a provision that compliance orders “shall be granted” was denied a mandatory reading that would establish— “an absolute duty to do so under any and all circumstances. We cannot but think that if Congress had intended to make such a drastic departure from the traditions of equity practice, an unequivocal statement of its purpose would have been made.” 321 U.S. at 329, 64 S.Ct. at 591.
Application of section 437h requires a conscientious effort to ascertain what Justice Frankfurter called the “mood” of the statute. The fair Congressional intention that I discern from this provision, adopted in 1974 on the briefest of presentation and virtually without discussion (see note 8), is a machinery for expedition but not a direction as to result. Thus, although the statutory provision reads like a direction to the appellate court to render a decision after a hearing on the questions as certified by the district court, the court has discretion to remand to the district court for a fact-finding proceeding. Buckley v. Valeo, 171 U.S.App.D.C. 168, 519 F.2d 817 (1975); see 424 U.S. 1 at 9, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976) (reciting the remand procedure). The court will respect Congress’s intent for *662expedition,9 but its course in proceeding toward disposition vel non calls for judicial discretion. .The public interest in expedition is material, but § 437h does not terminate the court’s discretion.10
In the exercise of discretion under the Declaratory Judgment Act, several factors are appropriately considered: the nature of the legal issues raised, whether there is a question of ripeness, the quality of the record presented, and the hardship that the plaintiff would suffer in the absence of an adjudication on the merits. See National Student Association v. Hershey, 134 U.S. App.D.C. 56, 68, 412 F.2d 1103, 1115 (1969).
As to the character of the record, the Supreme Court has cautioned against granting declaratory relief on issues of public moment in the absence of a fully concrete record, a “full-bodied record.” Public Affairs Associates, Inc. v. Rickover, supra, 369 U.S. at 112-113, 82 S.Ct. 580 (1962); Eccles v. Peoples Bank, 333 U.S. 426, 434, 68 S.Ct. 641, 92 L.Ed. 784 (1948); Public Serv. Comm’n v. Wycoff Co., 344 U.S. 237, 73 S.Ct. 236, 97 L.Ed. 291 (1952).
The principle is illustrated in Zemel v. Rusk, 381 U.S. 1, 85 S.Ct. 1271, 14 L.Ed.2d 179 (1965). After holding that a citizen seeking to travel to Cuba was entitled to a declaratory judgment whether a passport could lawfully be withheld (with the court ruling it could), the Court declined to entertain plaintiff’s further prayer for a declaratory judgment on the issue of whether a criminal prosecution would be constitutionally permissible in the event he went to Cuba without a passport. Chief Justice Warren’s opinion explained that the Declaratory Judgment Act provided a range of discretion, and in the sound exercise of its discretion the Court declined the second action in the absence of a concrete factual situation. 381 U.S. at 18-20, 85 S.Ct. 1271.
For reasons explained in Part I, I do not believe we have the “full-bodied record” called for by the pertinent doctrine.
The need for a concrete record is especially significant in light of the nature of the issues raised here. If there is one point on which all parties agree, it is that this litigation seeks resolution of a constitutional question of grave import. Sound doctrine calls for judicial restraint in dealing with constitutional issues, Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles, 331 U.S. 549, 67 S.Ct. 1409, 91 L.Ed. 1666 (1947), and we should be particularly mindful of that policy when we are asked to delineate, as we are in this ease, the respective powers and duties of the major branches of government. That kind of broad issue enhances the general temptation of a record lacking concrete detail, toward abstractness in analysis and broad pronouncements unsuited to the subtle workings of our constitutional system.
As to the hardship factor, the hardship that plaintiff will suffer in the absence of an adjudication on the merits is material in considering whether to entertain a controversy, Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 149, 87 S.Ct. 1507, 18 L.Ed.2d 681 (1967); see National Student Association v. Hershey, 134 U.S.App.D.C. 56, 68, 412 F.2d 1103, 1115 (1969). A plaintiff faced with irreparable injury may have a claim in equity that has to be decided one way or the other. Lack of irreparable injury is no bar to declaratory judgment, but the corollary is that the court has more latitude to de*663cline the controversy. See Samuels v. Mackall, 401 U.S. 66, 91 S.Ct. 764, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971). In this case, the hardship factor is minimal.
Plaintiff Ramsey Clark asserted an interest as a candidate for the Democratic nomination to be senator from New York. He alleged that one member of Congress opposed him in the primary election, and that if he were nominated, he would be likely to face Senator Buckley as nominee. In the event, he did not win the primary, nor did his Congressional contestant. Neither a judge nor Mr. Clark can assert whether it is likely that his interest as a candidate will recur. If he should decide to run again, and by that time the one-house veto provision has yielded concrete results, an action promptly begun and vigorously prosecuted can provide a timely decision.
Clark also asserts an interest as a voter, to vote in elections governed by the regulations of a fully independent Commission. Assuming this interest is sufficient to give him standing,11 it is not the kind of personal hardship that would compel this court to decide this case at this time. Clark is not asserting that his personal First Amendment or other constitutional rights have been unfairly restricted. He alleges a structural defect in the rulemaking process, and an indirect and generalized harm. It does not impel a rush to judgment.
These considerations are not — repeat not — to be taken as restraint grounded in mootness. The doctrine of mootness is in flux, to say the least, but in any event Clark’s interest as a voter is clearly not moot. The point is that Clark’s injury or threatened injury is not so substantial as to override prudential considerations for more perspective in disposition. Compare Craig v. Boren.12
Nor is injury made out by Clark’s complaint of the delay in promulgating regulations. There is no doubt of the constitutionality of the provision, 2 U.S.C. § 438c, for a waiting period of 30 legislative days before regulations become effective. Sibbach v. Wilson, 312 U.S. 1, 61 S.Ct. 422, 85 L.Ed. 479 (1941). Although regulations issued by the Commission lapsed when Congress adjourned October 2, 1976, before the waiting period had expired, the Commission’s Statement, dated Oct. 5, 1976, announced that although its proposed regulations had not technically become effective, they represented the “formally adopted views of the Commission” and should be taken as an “authoritative guide” as to the application of the election laws. Without determining the legal effect of these interpretative rules, or this adoptive announcement — a matter not before us — it reasonably appears that both candidates and voters have already received and will have in the future Commission guidance as to the meaning of the federal election law.
As to the claim of the “United States,” it suffices to say that the expedited review of 437h was not made available to the United States. The Department of Justice asserts an interest in the separation of powers and *664in the presidential veto power, but that cannot ride piggyback in this special proceeding if the action brought by a plaintiff specified by Congress is dismissed in the sound discretion of the court.
In prudential analysis the clear-cutness of the issue on the merits is pertinent. In the present case, we have an issue that merits reflection and development. That a judge as deliberate as Justice White believed such a provision to be constitutional,13 and that other justices on the Supreme Court refrained from comment, bespeak need for care in decisionmaking on the issue.
III. STANDING
Because I conclude that the court should decline to hear this case on prudential grounds, I do not reach the issues of standing raised here. I am satisfied that the majority opinion reserves the question as to whether a voter might have standing pursuant to statutory authorization to challenge the congressional veto provision. See Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 409 U.S. 205, 93 S.Ct. 364, 34 L.Ed.2d 415 (1972).14 Similarly, I am satisfied that the majority opinion does not decide whether or in what circumstances the President might bring an action challenging the veto provision.15 These questions remain open for consideration in an appropriate case.

. The Senate and House of Representatives each exercised their veto power to block regulations proposed by the original Election Commission. However, a majority of the members of that Commission were appointed by Congress. In light of the greater independence of the Commission established by the 1976 Amendments, and the observations of the Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 120-137, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), Congress might well take a different approach to the regulations of the current Commission. For this reason, I do not think the earlier experience with the one-house veto is helpful in repairing the inadequacy of the current factual situation.
In contrast, Buckley noted that the Commission had already undertaken to issue rules and regulations, and that the exercise of its remaining powers was “all but certain.” 424 U.S. at 11, 96 S.Ct. 612.

. The use of the simple resolution to control executive activities is largely a twentieth century development. See Watson, Congress Steps Out: A Look at Congressional Control of the Executive, 63 Calif.L.Rev. 983, -995-1029 (1975). While in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), the Su*659preme Court was able to rely on several earlier decisions discussing the appointment power, e. g., Ex Parte Hennen, 38 U.S. (13 Pet.) 230, 10 L.Ed. 138 (1839); United States v. Germaine, 99 U.S. 508, 25 L.Ed. 482 (1879); Springer v. Philippine Islands, 277 U.S. 189, 48 S.Ct. 480, 72 L.Ed. 845 (1928), no such body of precedent is available to us with respect to the issues involved here.

. The Supreme Court has recently noted the validity of the doctrine that interpretive regulations are respected for “guidance”, but do not command the deference from the courts that attaches to substantive regulations that reflect administrative discretion. General Electric Co. v. Gilbert, 429 U.S. 125, 140, 97 S.Ct. 401, 410, 50 L.Ed.2d 343 (1976). The greater breadth of review for interpretive regulations was one of the factors cited for exempting them for the general notice-and-comment requirements of rulemaking. See Legislative History of the Administrative Procedure Act, S.Doc. 248, 79th Cong., 2d Sess., 18 (1946). Whatever the ultimate resolution of the difference of judicial approach on the test of when a ruling is to be considered “interpretive”, see opinions in Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Org. v. Simon, 165 U.S.App.D.C. 1278, 506 F.2d 1278 (1974), rev’d on other grounds, 426 U.S. 26, 96 S.Ct. 1917, 48 L.Ed.2d 450 (1976) (“legal effect” test as against “substantial impact” test), it is clear that some regulations are less conclusive on the courts because they are deemed “interpretive,” i. e. partaking more of the quasi-judicial than of the quasi-legislative aspect of the agency’s function. Similar considerations may lead the legislature itself to agree that such interpretive regulations are inappropriate for legislative interdiction or modification. There may still be room for legislative scrutiny of interpretive regulations — to propose amendatory legislation, or even to make comments to the agency (agencies often use notice-and-comment for interpretive regulations as being helpful, even though not required by the APA).

. Pub.L. 94-283, the 1976 law that established a President-appointed Commission, amended 2 U.S.C. § 438(c) to add (5):
(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term “rule or regulation” means a provision or series of interrelated provisions stating a single rule of law.
The Conference Committee Report explains: The conferees agree that this provision does not give the Congress the power to revise proposed regulations by disapproving a particular word, phrase, or sentence, but only gives each House of the Congress the power to determine which proposed regulations of the Commission constitute distinct regulations which can only be disapproved in whole. This provision is intended to permit disapproval of discrete self-contained sections or subdivisions of proposed regulations and is not intended to permit the rewriting of regulations by piecemeal changes.
H.Rep. 94-1057 (April 28, 1976) pp. 51-2, U.S. Code Cong. & Admin.News 1976, p. 967.

. We certainly do not have here any explicit congressional threats of a veto similar to those in D. C. Federation of Civil Associations v. Volpe, 148 U.S.App.D.C. 207, 459 F.2d 1231 (1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 1030, 92 S.Ct. 1290, 31 L.Ed.2d 489 (1972).

. Plaintiff-intervenor United States seeks only a declaration that the one-house veto provision of the Act is unconstitutional. Plaintiff Clark seeks similar declaratory relief and an injunction prohibiting the Commission from transmitting its proposed regulations to Congress and commanding the Commission to prescribe them. To the extent that the latter request is viable at all, see Sibbach v. Wilson & Co., 312 U.S. 1, 61 S.Ct. 422, 85 L.Ed. 479 (1941); Majority Opinion at page-n.5, of 182 U.S.App.D.C., at page 646 of 559 F.2d n.5, this court would appear to have discretion before interfering by injunction with the operation of another branch of government. If the case is viewed solely as one in equity, it is difficult to make out the claim of threat of “irreparable injury” necessary for an injunction.

. See Public Service Comm’n of Utah v. Wycoff Co., supra, Eccles v. Peoples Bank, 333 U.S. 426, 68 S.Ct. 641, 92 L.Ed. 784 (1948).

. 120 Cong.Rec. 10562 (April 10, 1974). Senator Buckley was concerned that the expenditure and contribution limits in the bill might impermissibly limit First Amendment freedoms, and for that reason sought expeditious review. At the time he introduced his provision for review, Senator Buckley stated:
“[I]t is a modification that I am sure will prove acceptable to the managers of the bill. It merely provides for the expeditious review of the constitutional questions I have raised. I am sure that we will all agree that if, in fact, there is a serious question as to the constitutionality of this legislation, it is in the interest of everyone to have the question determined by the Supreme Court at the earliest possible time.”

. Indeed the court does so even when there is no explicit direction to the court, and the contemplation of expedition must be inferred from the legislature’s direction to the executive agency. International Harvester v. Ruckelshaus, 155 U.S.App.D.C. 411, 478 F.2d 615, 650 (1973). See H. Leventhal, Appellate Procedures: Design, Patchwork, and Managed Flexibility, 23 U.C.L.A.L.Rev. 432, 443-44 (1976).

. The Supreme Court, in its discussion of ripeness in Buckley, referred to the congressional desire for an early resolution of the constitutional questions involved there. 424 U.S. at 117, 96 S.Ct. 612. That certainly bears on the court’s discretion, as an identification of certain prudential considerations of significance in the court’s decision whether to hear the case. In that case there was a wide-ranging, fundamental challenge to the substantive provisions of the act, the kind of challenge that the sponsor envisioned as peculiarly compelling for prompt decision prior to the election year campaigns. (See note 8).

. See Part III, infra.

. 429 U.S. 190, 192, 97 S.Ct. 451, 454, 50 L.Ed.2d 397 (1976). Craig is cited even though it involves another prudential doctrine, that of standing to claim the rights of others, because it exemplifies how courts consider the importance of the rights asserted and the degree and immediacy of injury to the interests involved.
Craig also brings out the vitality of the recent turn in mootness doctrine that veers away from cases brought by individuals whose interest has expired. Craig was unanimous on only one point, the disappearance of the litigating posture of purchaser Craig when he became 21, citing De Funis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 94 S.Ct. 1704, 40 L.Ed.2d 164 (1972). The “capable of repetition” doctrine seems to have been reshaped to require either a projection of repetition for the particular party, see Weinstein v. Bradford, 423 U.S. 147, 96 S.Ct. 347, 46 L.Ed.2d 350 (1975), or a class action, Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393, 95 S.Ct. 553, 42 L.Ed.2d 532 (1975), which would be subject to all the procedural constraints on a class action, see Board of School Comm'rs of the City of Indianapolis v. Jacobs, 420 U.S. 128, 95 S.Ct. 848, 43 L.Ed.2d 74 (1975).
As for De Funis, whether or not that was the reason, the dismissal may be viewed as having given the Court the opportunity to defer a wide-ranging constitutional issue for a case and record that would provide fuller perspective and experience, enhancing sound disposition.

. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 283-86, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976) (White, J., concurring and dissenting).
I shall not discuss the merits of Justice White’s observations, except to say I believe they have greater depth than Judge MacKinnon takes into account. In any realistic analysis, there is exercise of legislative power not merely by statute, but also by an executive-appointed official or board acting under a statutory delegation, and this is permissible under the Constitution, in view of realistic benefits to sound government, provided there are such safeguards as the requirement of standards, which enhance both fairness and Congressional oversight. Yakus v. United States, 321 U.S. 414, 64 S.Ct. 660, 88 L.Ed. 834 (1944); Lichter v. United States, 334 U.S. 742, 785-86, 68 S.Ct. 1294, 92 L.Ed. 1694 (1948); see generally Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher Work. v. Connally, 337 F.Supp. 737 (D.D.C.1971) (three judge court).
If the particular regulation by an executive official or executive-appointed agency reflects delegation of what is in substance legislative power, the question arises why the legislature may not provide instead that when exercising legislative rulemaking power, the agency is “an agent of the Congress” and the delegation of legislative power is conditioned on at least modest concurrence of the executive-appointed initiator and of the legislative branch. The American Constitution accommodates hybrids that work. E. g., the Comptroller General is appointed by the President (with Senate consent, 31 U.S.C. § 42), but he conducts auditing for the Government “as an agent of the Congress,” 31 U.S.C. § 65(d).

. I do, however, discern a difference between a statute that confers standing on a citizen to bring suit to enforce a statute, as a kind of private attorney general, and a law that purports to confer standing to attack a statute, the kind of law that was held unavailing in Muskrat v. United States, 219 U.S. 346, 31 S.Ct. 250, 55 L.Ed. 246 (1911). An action to enforce a statute may be upheld as a vindication of a statutory interest created by the legislature that arises to the dignity of an “entitlement.” Compare Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972).

. In Kennedy v. Sampson, 167 U.S.App.D.C. 192, 511 F.2d 430 (1974), in which a panel of this court entertained an action by a Congressman challenging a “pocket veto”, jurisdiction was apparently based on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1361. This was (under that plaintiff’s allegations) an action to enforce, not attack, a statute, and it was an action to require the executive official to perform his duty under the statute. The majority opinion does not decide whether this form of action would be available to the executive seeking to challenge a statutory provision for a congressional veto.