Hondros v. United States Civil Service Commission

Although I agree with the result reached by the majority, I write separately primarily to emphasize the narrowness of today’s holding. First, as I understand the case, the Court holds that the combination of erroneous decisions and delays which resulted in the denial of a career appointment to Nathan Smith was sufficiently inordinate to be unlawful. We do not suggest, however, that bureaucratic negligence will inexorably rise to the level of “arbitrary and capricious action” for purposes of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). Second, in reversing the district court’s order to reinstate…