Cite as: 512 U. S. 504 (1994)
Thomas, J., dissenting
unmistakably mandatory terms. Cf. Pennhurst, 451 U. S., at 19, n. 14.
By giving substantive effect to such a hopelessly vague regulation, the Court disserves the very purpose behind the delegation of lawmaking power to administrative agencies, which is to "resol[ve] . . . ambiguity in a statutory text." Pauley v. BethEnergy Mines, Inc., 501 U. S. 680, 696 (1991). See generally Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837, 865-866 (1984). Here, far from resolving ambiguity in the Medicare program statutes, the Secretary has merely replaced statutory ambiguity with regulatory ambiguity. It is perfectly understandable, of course, for an agency to issue vague regulations, because to do so maximizes agency power and allows the agency greater latitude to make law through adjudication rather than through the more cumbersome rulemaking process. Nonetheless, agency rules should be clear and definite so that affected parties will have adequate notice concerning the agency's understanding of the law. Cf. FTC v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 567 F. 2d 96, 103 (CADC 1977) (Wilkey, J.). Cf. generally 2 K. Davis & R. Pierce, Administrative Law § 11.5, p. 204 (3d ed. 1994) ("An agency whose powers are not limited either by meaningful statutory standards or . . . legislative rules poses a serious potential threat to liberty and to democracy"). The aspirational terms of § 413.85(c) are woefully inadequate to impart such notice.4
4 As a result of the Court's ruling today, petitioner and other Medicare providers who, in the past, received reimbursement for GME costs in violation of the Secretary's present interpretation of § 413.85(c) are suddenly faced with the possibility of being sued for recoupment of the millions of dollars of "overpayments" they received from Medicare. The Social Security Act, we have noted, "permits . . . retroactive action" within three years by the Secretary to make " 'corrective adjustments . . . where, for a provider of services for any fiscal period, the aggregate reimbursement produced by the methods of determining costs proves to be . . . excessive.' " Bowen v. Georgetown Univ. Hospital, 488 U. S. 204, 209 (1988) (quoting 42 U. S. C. § 1395x(v)(1)(A)). Thus, although the Secretary per-
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