Gorsuch, J., concurring in judgment
decrees that purport to define the rights and duties of sometimes millions of people who are not parties before them. Three years ago, I reflected on the rise of the “universal injunctio[n]” and raised questions about its consistency with the separation of powers and our precedents. Department of Homeland Security v. New York, 589 U. S. ___, ___ (2020) (opinion concurring in grant of stay) (slip op., at 3). I observed, too, that “the routine issuance of universal injunctions” has proven “unworkable, sowing chaos for litigants, the government, courts, and all those affected by these [sometimes] conflicting” decrees. Ibid.
Matters have not improved with time. Universal injunctions continue to intrude on powers reserved for the elected branches. They continue to deprive other lower courts of the chance to weigh in on important questions before this Court has to decide them. They continue to encourage parties to engage in forum shopping and circumvent rules governing class-wide relief. Recent events have highlighted another problem too. Sometimes, the government may effectively submit to a universal decree running against it in order to avoid “the usual and important requirement, under the [APA], that a regulation originally promulgated using notice and comment … may only be repealed through notice and comment.” Arizona v. City and County of San Francisco, 596 U. S. ___, ___ (2022) (Roberts, C. J., concurring) (slip op., at 2). It is a strategy that amounts to little more than “ ‘rulemaking-by-collective-acquiescence.’ ” Ibid.; see also Danco Laboratories, LLC v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 598 U. S. ___, ___ (2023) (Alito, J., dissenting from grant of application for stays) (slip op., at 3); Arizona v. Mayorkas, 598 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2023) (statement of Gorsuch, J.) (slip op., at 1–4).
Today’s case presents a variation on the theme. The district court ordered “wholesale vacatur” of the Guidelines, rendering them inoperable with respect to any person anywhere. 606 F. Supp. 3d, at 499, 502. As authority for its
