Federal Employees v. Department of Interior, 526 U.S. 86, 9 (1999)

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108

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES v. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

OTMConnor, J., dissenting

gain midterm. As I read the Statute, Congress has clearly rejected such a requirement.

II

Even if I agreed with the Court that the Federal Labor Statute is ambiguous with respect to the duty to bargain midterm, I would not defer in this suit to the FLRA's interpretation of the Statute pursuant to Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837, 842-843 (1984).

We observed in Good Samaritan Hospital v. Shalala, 508 U. S. 402 (1993), that when an agency alters its interpretation of a statute, its revised interpretation may be entitled to less deference than a position consistently held. We explained:

"The Secretary is not estopped from changing a view she believes to have been grounded upon a mistaken legal interpretation. Indeed, an administrative agency is not disqualified from changing its mind; and when it does, the courts still sit in review of the administrative decision and should not approach the statutory construction issue de novo and without regard to the administrative understanding of the statutes. On the other hand, the consistency of an agency's position is a factor in assessing the weight that position is due. As we have stated: 'An agency interpretation of a relevant provision which conflicts with the agency's earlier interpretation is "entitled to considerably less deference" than a consistently held agency view.' INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U. S. 421, 446, n. 30 (1987). How much weight should be given to the agency's views in such a situation, and in particular where its shifts might have resulted from intervening and possibly erroneous judicial decisions and its current position from one of our own rulings, will depend on the facts of individual cases." Id., at 417 (some citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

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