582
Opinion of Scalia, J.
I
As an initial matter, I think the Court is right in concluding that Evans v. Gore, 253 U. S. 245 (1920)—holding that new taxes of general applicability cannot be applied to sitting Article III judges—is no longer good law, and should be overruled. We went out of our way in O'Malley v. Wood-rough, 307 U. S. 277, 280-281 (1939), to catalog criticism of Evans, and subsequently recognized, in United States v. Will, 449 U. S. 200, 227, and n. 31 (1980), that O'Malley had "undermine[d] the reasoning of Evans." The Court's decision today simply recognizes what should be obvious: that Evans has not only been undermined, but has in fact collapsed.
II
My disagreement with the Court arises from its focus upon the issue of discrimination, which turns out to be dispositive with respect to the Medicare tax. The Court holds "that the Compensation Clause does not forbid Congress to enact a law imposing a nondiscriminatory tax . . . upon judges, whether those judges were appointed before or after the tax law in question was enacted or took effect." Ante, at 571. Since "the Medicare tax is just such a nondiscriminatory tax," the Court concludes that "application of [that] tax law to federal judges is [c]onstitutional." Ante, at 572.
But we are dealing here with a "Compensation Clause," not a "Discrimination Clause." See U. S. Const., Art. III, § 1 ("The Judges . . . shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office"). As we have said, "the Constitution makes no exceptions for 'nondiscriminatory' reductions" in judicial compensation, Will, supra, at 226. A reduction in compensation is a reduction in compensation, even if all federal employees are subjected to the same cut. The discrimination criterion that the Court uses would make sense if the only purpose of the Compensation Clause were
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