306
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
konyan, 501 U. S., at 102,3 it directly contradicts, in my view, the admonition repeated in our cases that "the language of [EAJA] must be construed with reference to the purpose of . . . EAJA and the realities of litigation against the Government." Sullivan v. Finkelstein, 496 U. S. 617, 630 (1990). See also Sullivan v. Hudson, 490 U. S., at 889-890.
As explained above, our decision in Hudson was based in part on the premise that prevailing party status for purposes of EAJA could not be determined until after proceedings on remand were completed. I find unpersuasive the Court's attempt to distinguish cases relied upon in Hudson that we previously characterized as "for all intents and purposes identical." Id., at 886; see ante, at 301-302.4 Nevertheless,
3 The EAJA, 28 U. S. C. § 2412, provides in relevant part: "(d)(1)(A) [A] court shall award to a prevailing party other than the United States fees and other expenses . . . incurred by that party in any civil action . . . brought by or against the United States in any court having jurisdiction of that action, unless the court finds that the position of the United States was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust.
"(B) A party seeking an award of fees and other expenses shall, within thirty days of final judgment in the action, submit to the court an application for fees and other expenses which shows that the party is a prevailing party and is eligible to receive an award under this subsection, and the amount sought . . . . The party shall also allege that the position of the United States was not substantially justified."
4 As we explained in Hudson: "[I]n a case such as this one, where a court's remand to the agency for further administrative proceedings does not necessarily dictate the receipt of benefits, the claimant will not normally attain 'prevailing party' status within the meaning of § 2412(d)(1)(A) until after the result of the administrative proceedings is known. The situation is for all intents and purposes identical to that we addressed in Hanrahan v. Hampton, 446 U. S. 754 (1980). There we held that the reversal of a directed verdict for defendants on appeal did not render the plaintiffs in that action 'prevailing parties' such that an interim award of attorney's fees would be justified under 42 U. S. C. § 1988. We found that such 'procedural or evidentiary rulings' were not themselves 'matters on which a party could "prevail" for purposes of shifting his counsel fees to the opposing party under
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