478
Opinion of Souter, J.
Base Closure and Realignment Commission's (Commission's) list in contravention of his statutory authority. Nor does either opinion suggest that judicial review would be unavailable for a timely claim seeking direct relief from a procedural violation, such as a suit claiming that a scheduled meeting of the Commission should be public, see § 2903(d), note following 10 U. S. C. § 2687 (1988 ed., Supp. IV), or that the Secretary of Defense should publish the proposed selection criteria and provide an opportunity for public comment, §§ 2903(b) and (c). Such a suit could be timely brought and adjudicated without interfering with Congress' intent to preclude judicial "cherry pick[ing]" or frustrating the statute's expedited decisionmaking schedule. See post, at 481. I also do not understand the majority's Franklin analysis to foreclose such a suit, since a decision to close the Commission's hearing, for example, would " 'directly affect' " the rights of interested parties independent of any ultimate Presidential review. See ante, at 470; cf. FCC v. ITT World Communications, Inc., 466 U. S. 463 (1984).
With the understanding that neither a challenge to ultra vires exercise of the President's statutory authority nor a timely procedural challenge is precluded, I join Justice Souter's concurrence and Part II of the opinion of the Court.
Justice Souter, with whom Justice Blackmun, Justice Stevens, and Justice Ginsburg join, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
I join Part II of the Court's opinion because I think it is clear that the President acted wholly within the discretion afforded him by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (Act), and because respondents pleaded no constitutional claim against the President, indeed, no claim against the President at all. As the Court explains, the Act grants the President unfettered discretion to accept the Commission's base-closing report or to reject it, for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason. See ante, at 476.
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