Judicial Review Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 16, 2024 |
| Report Number |
LSB10558 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Jonathan M. Gaffney |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Federal agencies administer a wide range of areas by adopting rules, adjudicating disputes and claims,
and providing guidance on matters within their purview. Given the potential impact of these agency
actions on individual rights, the Supreme Court has recognized a “strong presumption that Congress
intends judicial review of agency action”; this presumption is embodied in the Administrative Procedure
Act (APA). For agency actions not governed by another statute, the APA defines the federal courts’ scope
of review—how courts review agency actions, including the legal standards used to review those actions.
This Sidebar provides a brief summary of the APA’s judicial review requirements before exploring the
scope of that review. It does not address other issues affecting judicial review of agency actions, such as
subject-matter jurisdiction or the case-or-controversy requirement. (Other CRS products discuss these
topics in more detail.)
