Supreme Court hears dispute over whether Hobbs Act bars district courts from reassessing agency orders in private suits

The Supreme Court heard oral argument Wednesday in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Corporation over whether the Hobbs Act prevents district courts from reviewing the validity of agency orders in private lawsuits. Counsel for the petitioner, Mister Wessler, urged the Court to allow district courts to evaluate agency interpretations in ordinary litigation, while counsel for respondents and the government argued the Hobbs Act channels exclusive review to the courts of appeals.

The question presented is whether the Hobbs Act’s grant of exclusive jurisdiction to the courts of appeals to “determine the validity of” covered agency actions requires wholesale channeling of all disputes about an agency’s statutory interpretation into the court of appeals — or whether there are meaningful offramps that allow district courts to decide issues that arise in garden‑variety civil litigation. The issue arose here from an FCC declaratory order (the “Amerifactors” order) interpreting a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which the parties dispute whether and how it binds later private suits.

If the Hobbs Act’s…