Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Corner Post Case Over When APA Limitations Period Begins

The Supreme Court heard argument on whether the six‑year limitations period in 28 U.S.C. §2401(a) begins when a particular plaintiff is first injured by an agency rule or when the agency finalized that rule. Petitioner’s counsel, Mister Weir, told the court that Corner Post opened for business in February 2018 and "paid several hundred thousand dollars in debit‑card fees that it thinks are unlawful," and he argued that the limitations clock should start when a plaintiff first pays such fees and is therefore harmed.

Government counsel, Mister Snyder, said that for decades courts of appeals have run §2401(a)’s period from the date of the challenged agency action and that doing otherwise would destabilize reliance interests and create incentives for late‑formed entities to relitigate long‑settled regulatory schemes. "Nothing in the APA or section 2401(a) requires that destabilizing result," Snyder told the justices.

Petitioner presented three core arguments. First, he urged textual interpretation: when a cause of action "first…