Cite as: 505 U. S. 788 (1992)
Opinion of Scalia, J.
that, even without the survey, information on overseas personnel would be "supplemented and improved," App. 161, and would thus be more accurate than the data available in the past. Moreover, while the anticipated Defense Department survey played an important role in the Secretary's initial decision, other factors cited in the memorandum continued to support the Secretary's choice to include overseas personnel.
The record could be more robust. However, the basis for the agency's decision need not appear with "ideal clarity," Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc., 419 U. S. 281, 286 (1974), as long as it is reasonably discernible. As the Court explains, see ante, Part IV, the Secretary had discretion to include overseas personnel in the census count. Although the hopes for more accurate data were not fully realized, the record discloses that the decision to include overseas personnel continued to be supported by valid considerations. I therefore conclude that the decision of the Secretary was not arbitrary or capricious.26
For these reasons, I concur in the Court's judgment, but only in Part IV of its opinion.
Justice Scalia, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
I agree with the Court that appellees had no cause of action under the judicial-review provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U. S. C. § 701 et seq., and I therefore join Parts I and II of its opinion.
Appellees have also challenged the constitutionality of the allocation methods used by the Secretary of Commerce in conducting the census. The Court concludes that they have
26 The record indicates that the Secretary considered the alternative methods of allocating overseas employees to States and that the choice of "home of record" data was certainly not arbitrary or capricious. See, e. g., App. 162.
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