Menkes v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

This is not an easy case. The court recognized as much before our initial remand, acknowledging “[t]he statutory question is potentially a difficult one,” and *343urging the Coast Guard to provide a “forthright agency interpretation.” Menkes v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec. (“Menkes II”), 486 F.3d 1307, 1313-14 (D.C.Cir.2007). The Coast Guard did not heed our advice. The process the Coast Guard instituted on remand, as well as the agency’s proffered interpretation of the relevant statute and/or its own regulations still provides little light for those lost at sea.

Neither the Coast Guard’s Agency…