144
Blackmun, J., dissenting
ings, universally assumed to be adjudications, were adversary—that is, whether the Government was represented by counsel or had otherwise staked out a position. In short, the reference to § 554 seems to be nothing but a statutory "hook"—a convenient way to signal, in the statutory text, the essential and uncontroversial characteristics of an "adjudication."
This interpretation is confirmed by the one special case of agency proceedings that Congress examined with any particularity: Social Security Administration proceedings. This Court had refrained from deciding whether such proceedings are governed by § 554. See Richardson v. Perales, 402 U. S. 389, 409 (1971). The EAJA Conference Report makes clear that, notwithstanding this uncertainty, Congress considered a Social Security Act administrative proceeding to be covered by the EAJA if the adjudication was "adversary," that is, if the United States had staked out a position. See Conference Report, at 23, quoted supra, at 143. The House Judiciary Committee Report on the EAJA's 1985 reenactment is to similar but stronger effect:
"As enacted in 1980, the Act covers 'adversary adjudication'—i. e., an adjudication under section 554 of [5 U. S. C.] 'in which the position of the United States is represented by counsel or otherwise'. . . . While this language generally excludes Social Security administrative hearings from the Act, Congress made clear in 1980 that 'If . . . the agency does take a position at some point in the adjudication, the adjudication would then become adversarial,' and thus be subject to the Act. It is the committee's understanding that the Secretary of Health and Human Services has implemented an experiment in five locations in which the Secretary is represented at the hearing before the administrative law judge. This is precisely the type of situation covered by section 504(b)(1)(C). While, generally, Social Security adminis-
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