Elgin v. Department of Treasury

Decided June 11, 2012. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-45 · 567 U.S. 1 (2012) · Cited 484 times

Holding

The CSRA precludes district court jurisdiction over petitioners’ claims because it is fairly discernible that Congress intended the statute’s review scheme to provide the exclusive avenue to judicial review for covered employees who challenge covered adverse employment actions, even when those employees argue that a federal statute is unconstitutional.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich · 510 U.S. 200 (1994)
• United States v. Fausto · 484 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Webster v. Doe · 486 U.S. 592 (1988)
• McNary v. Haitian Refugee Center, Inc. · 498 U.S. 479 (1991)
• Bush v. Lucas · 462 U.S. 367 (1983)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians · 476 U.S. 667 (1986)
• Block v. Community Nutrition Institute · 467 U.S. 340 (1984)
• Shalala v. Illinois Council on Long Term Care, Inc. · 529 U.S. 1 (2000)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States · 424 U.S. 800 (1976)
• Bell v. Hood · 327 U.S. 678 (1946)
• United States v. Raddatz · 447 U.S. 667 (1980)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Heckler v. Ringer · 466 U.S. 602 (1984)
• Nixon v. Administrator of General Services · 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Kerotest Manufacturing Co. v. C-O-Two Fire Equipment Co. · 342 U.S. 180 (1952)
• Preseault v. Interstate Commerce Commission · 494 U.S. 1 (1990)
• Rostker v. Goldberg · 453 U.S. 57 (1981)
• Whitney National Bank in Jefferson Parish v. Bank of New Orleans & Trust Co. · 379 U.S. 411 (1965)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Perry v. Merit Systems Protection Bd. · 582 U.S. 420 (2017)
• Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC · 598 U.S. 175 (2023)
• Bucklew v. Precythe · 587 U.S. 119 (2019)
• McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates, Inc. v. McKesson Corp. · 606 U.S. 146 (2025)
• Fort Bend County v. Davis · 587 U.S. 541 (2019)
• Kloeckner v. Solis · 568 U.S. 41 (2012)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).