392
Opinion of the Court
because we do not read the statute in this way. An ordinary reading of the language indicates that the statute refers to an instance in which a federal court "lacks subject matter jurisdiction" over a "case," and not simply over one claim within a case. Cf. § 1441(c) (permitting "the entire case" to be removed or remanded, when one or more "non-removable claims or causes of action" is joined with a federal question "claim or cause of action"). Conceivably, one might also read the statute's reference to "case" to include a claim within a case as well as the entire case. But neither reading helps Schacht. The former reading would make the provision inapplicable here; the latter would make it applicable, but requires remand only of the relevant claims, and not the entire case as Schacht contends.
Nor does the statute's purpose favor Schacht's interpretation. The statutory section that contains the provision deals, not with the question of what is removable, but with the procedures that a federal court is to follow after removal occurs. It is entitled: "Procedure after removal generally." § 1447. In substance, the section differentiates between removals that are defective because of lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and removals that are defective for some other reason, e. g., because the removal took place after relevant time limits had expired. For the latter kind of case, there must be a motion to remand filed no later than 30 days after the filing of the removal notice. § 1447(c). For the former kind of case, remand may take place without such a motion and at any time. Ibid. The provision, then, helps to specify a procedural difference that flows from a difference in the kinds of reasons that could lead to a remand. That objective is irrelevant to the kind of problem presented in this case.
We repeat our conclusion: A State's proper assertion of an Eleventh Amendment bar after removal means that the federal court cannot hear the barred claim. But that circumstance does not destroy removal jurisdiction over the remaining claims in the case before us. A federal court can
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