Cite as: 538 U. S. 644 (2003)
Thomas, J., concurring in judgment
Citibank (South Dakota), N. A., 517 U. S. 735, 739 (1996). Petitioner must therefore show that the Medicaid Act is unambiguous or, in other words, that Congress "has directly spoken to the precise question at issue." Chevron, supra, at 842. However, given the foregoing discussion of the text of the Medicaid Act, it cannot be read to unambiguously prohibit Maine Rx, or indicate that Congress, in enacting § 1396a(a)(19), directly addressed this issue. Indeed, the Department of Health and Human Services has already adopted an interpretation of the Medicaid Act that "does not preclude States from negotiating prices, including manufacturer discounts and rebates for non-Medicaid drug purchases." Letter from D. Smith, Dir. of Center for Medicaid and State Operations, Centers for Medicare & Medical Services, to all State Medicaid Dirs. (Sept. 18, 2002), App. to Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 48a.5 Obstacle preemption's very premise is that Congress has not expressly displaced state law, and thus not "directly spoken" to the pre-emption question. Therefore, where an agency is charged with administering a federal statute as the Secretary is here, Chevron imposes a perhaps-insurmountable barrier to a claim of obstacle pre-emption.
I note that the interpretation of the Medicaid Act I offer, unlike petitioner's, does not require the Secretary to reach a particular decision with respect to Maine Rx. The Secretary is expressly charged with determining whether state plans comply with the numerous requirements of 42 U. S. C. §§ 1396a(a), 1396a(b), 1396c. Among these, as discussed earlier, is the requirement that the plan serve "the best inof the Secretary's contrary construction of the statute at Chevron's first step, not its second, which asks whether the agency construction is reasonable. 467 U. S., at 843.
5 This interpretation has been upheld by the District Court for the District of Columbia. Pharmaceutical Research and Mfrs. of America v. Thompson, 259 F. Supp. 2d 39, 69-72 (2003). Petitioner's arguments provide no answer to the careful analysis offered by that court.
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