Cite as: 532 U. S. 731 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
of an obviously broader exhaustion requirement makes it highly implausible that it meant to give prisoners a strong inducement to skip the administrative process simply by limiting prayers for relief to money damages not offered through administrative grievance mechanisms.
Thus, we think that Congress has mandated exhaustion clearly enough, regardless of the relief offered through administrative procedures.6 Cf. McCarthy, 503 U. S., at 144 ("Where Congress specifically mandates, exhaustion is required"). We accordingly affirm the judgment of the Third Circuit.
It is so ordered.
courts' discretion to excuse exhaustion when it would not be "appropriate and in the interests of justice." Compare 42 U. S. C. § 1997e(a) (1994 ed., Supp. V) with 42 U. S. C. § 1997e(a) (1994 ed.).
6 That Congress has mandated exhaustion in either case defeats the argument of Booth and supporting amici that this reading of § 1997e (1994 ed., Supp. V) is at odds with traditional doctrines of administrative exhaustion, under which a litigant need not apply to an agency that has "no power to decree . . . relief," Reiter v. Cooper, 507 U. S. 258, 269 (1993), or need not exhaust where doing so would otherwise be futile. See Brief for Petitioner 24-27; Brief for Brennan Center for Justice et al. as Amici Curiae. Without getting into the force of this claim generally, we stress the point (which Booth acknowledges, see Reply Brief for Petitioner 4) that we will not read futility or other exceptions into statutory exhaustion requirements where Congress has provided otherwise. See McCarthy v. Madigan, 503 U. S. 140, 144 (1992); cf. Weinberger v. Salfi, 422 U. S. 749, 766-767 (1975). Here, we hold only that Congress has provided in § 1997e(a) that an inmate must exhaust irrespective of the forms of relief sought and offered through administrative avenues.
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