Gorsuch, J., concurring in judgment
That’s where the magic happens. The Thunder Basin factors require assessing whether: (1) “precluding district court jurisdiction” would “foreclose all meaningful judicial review”; (2) the plaintiff ’s claims are “wholly collateral” to the statutory review scheme; and (3) the claims are “outside the agency’s expertise.” Ante, at 8 (internal quotation marks omitted); see generally 510 U. S., at 207–215. Harnessing the energy of these various factors, we are assured, will allow anyone to detect a latent congressional intent to oust district courts of their jurisdiction in any given case. See ante, at 8–10.
Just see how easy it is. To apply the first factor, all you have to do is ask a few more questions. They include whether the plaintiff could “eventually” obtain review in some federal court; whether that court’s review “would come too late to be meaningful”; and (maybe) how analogous the plaintiff ’s plea for immediate review is to a governmental official’s plea for qualified immunity. Ante, at 12–14. If this is starting to seem more confounding than clarifying, do not worry. The first factor is the “least straightforward” anyway. Ante, at 11. When it comes to the second factor, you only need to evaluate the “collateralism” of the plaintiff’s claim. Ante, at 14. Apparently, that “requires considering the nature of the claim, not the status (pending or not) of an agency proceeding.” Ante, at 16. The third factor is just one easy question too, focused on whether the plaintiff’s claim is “intertwined with or embedded in matters on which the [agency is] expert.” Ante, at 17. If that does not help, try asking if the claim is “entangled” with the agency’s expertise, ibid., or if the agency can bring to bear “distinctive knowledge,” ante, at 8.
Even after you make it through these twists and turns, a final surprise sometimes awaits. The Court holds that all three Thunder Basin factors favor Ms. Cochran and Axon, so their cases may proceed in district court. Ante, at 17–18.
