340
Opinion of the Court
only after some courts refused to enter the automatic stay, and after the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit would not review such a refusal, that Congress amended § 3626(e) to provide for interlocutory review. See In re Scott, 163 F. 3d 282, 284 (CA5 1998); Ruiz v. Johnson, supra, at 388; see also 18 U. S. C. § 3626(e)(4) (1994 ed., Supp. IV).
Finally, the Government finds support for its view in § 3626(e)(3). That provision authorizes an extension, for "good cause," of the starting point for the automatic stay, from 30 days after the § 3626(b) motion is filed until 90 days after that motion is filed. The Government explains that, by allowing the court to prevent the entry of the stay for up to 60 days under the relatively generous "good cause" standard, Congress by negative implication has preserved courts' discretion to suspend the stay after that time under the more stringent standard for injunctive relief. To be sure, allowing a delay in entry of the stay for 60 days based on a good cause standard does not by itself necessarily imply that any other reason for preventing the operation of the stay—for example, on the basis of traditional equitable principles—is precluded. But § 3626(e)(3) cannot be read in isolation. When §§ 3626(e)(2) and (3) are read together, it is clear that the district court cannot enjoin the operation of the automatic stay. The § 3626(b) motion "shall operate as a stay during" a specific time period. Section 3626(e)(3) only adjusts the starting point for the stay, and it merely permits that starting point to be delayed. Once the 90-day period has passed, the § 3626(b) motion "shall operate as a stay" until the court rules on the § 3626(b) motion. During that time, any attempt to enjoin the stay is irreconcilable with the plain language of the statute.
Thus, although we should not construe a statute to displace courts' traditional equitable authority absent the "clearest command," Califano v. Yamasaki, 442 U. S., at 705, or an "inescapable inference" to the contrary, Porter v. Warner Holding Co., 328 U. S. 395, 398 (1946), we are con-
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