The Supreme Court Applies an Uncontroversial Clear Statement Rule

Clear statement rules are having a moment at the Supreme Court. Recently, in Harrow v. Department of Defense, the Court held that a statutory deadline for an appeal from a Merit Systems Protection Board ruling was non-jurisdictional. In its unanimous ruling, the Court applied a “clear statement rule”: Congress must speak clearly if it means for a provision governing judicial review to have jurisdictional consequences. After some jockeying about clear statement rules in recent years, the Court’s opinion signals that at least one such rule—the jurisdiction rule—is uncontroversial.