Opinion of the Court
votofsky had originally asked that `Jerusalem, Israel,' be recorded on his passport, `[b]oth sides agree that the question now is whether § 214(d) entitles [him] to have just “Israel” listed' ”). The arguments in Zivotofsky's brief center on his passport claim, as opposed to the consular report of birth abroad. Indeed, in the court below, Zivotofsky waived any argument that his consular report of birth abroad should be treated differently than his passport. Zivotofsky v. Secretary of State, 725 F. 3d 197, 203, n. 3 (CADC 2013). He has also waived the issue here by failing to differentiate between the two documents. As a result, the Court addresses Zivotofsky's passport arguments and need not engage in a separate analysis of the validity of § 214(d) as applied to consular reports of birth abroad.
After Zivotofsky brought suit, the District Court dismissed his case, reasoning that it presented a nonjusticiable political question and that Zivotofsky lacked standing. App. 28–39. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed on the standing issue, Zivotofsky v. Secretary of State, 444 F. 3d 614, 617–619 (2006), but later affrmed the District Court's political question determination. See Zivotofsky v. Secretary of State, 571 F. 3d 1227, 1228 (2009).
This Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case. Whether § 214(d) is constitutional, the Court held, is not a question reserved for the political branches. In reference to Zivotofsky's claim the Court observed “the Judiciary must decide if Zivotofsky's interpretation of the statute is correct, and whether the statute is constitutional”—not whether Jerusalem is, in fact, part of Israel. Zivotofsky v. Clinton, supra, at 196.
On remand the Court of Appeals held the statute unconstitutional. It determined that “the President exclusively holds the power to determine whether to recognize a foreign sovereign,” 725 F. 3d, at 214, and that “section 214(d) directly contradicts a carefully considered exercise of the Executive branch's recognition power,” id., at 217.
This Court again granted certiorari. 572 U. S. 1059 (2014).
