damages remedy for those in Davis' position, the court also concluded that "the proposed damage remedy is not constitutionally compelled" so that it was not necessary to "countermand the clearly discernible will of Congress" and create such a remedy. 571 F. 2d, at 800.

II

In Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, federal agents had allegedly arrested and searched Bivens without

(1916) (emphasis supplied)—that is, does the statute create a federal right in favor of the plaintiff? Second, is there any indication of legislative intent, explicit or implicit, either to create such a remedy or to deny one? See, e. g., National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 414 U. S. 453, 458, 460 (1974) (Amtrak). Third, is it consistent with the underlying purposes of the legislative scheme to imply such a remedy for the plaintiff? See, e. g., Amtrak, supra; Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Barbour, 421 U. S. 412, 423 (1975); Calhoon v. Harvey, 379 U. S. 134 (1964). And finally, is the cause of action one traditionally relegated to state law, in an area basically the concern of the States, so that it would be inappropriate to infer a cause of action based solely on federal law? See Wheeldin v. Wheeler, 373 U. S. 647, 652 (1963); cf. J. I. Case Co. v. Borak, 377 U. S. 426, 434 (1964); Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388, 394-395 (1971); id., at 400 (Harlan, J., concurring in judgment)." 422 U. S., at 78.

The Court of Appeals had some difficulty applying these criteria to determine whether a cause of action should be implied under the Constitution. It eventually concluded, however, (1) that although "the fifth amendment right to due process certainly confers a right upon Davis, the injury alleged here does not infringe this right as directly as" the violation of the Fourth Amendment rights alleged in Bivens, 571 F. 2d, at 797; (2) that "[c]ongressional remedial legislation for employment discrimination has carefully avoided creating a cause of action for money damages for one in Davis' position," id., at 798; (3) that, unlike violations of the Fourth Amendment, "the breadth of the concept of due process indicates that the damage remedy sought will not be judicially manageable," id., at 799; and (4) that implying a cause of action under the Due Process Clause would create "the danger of deluging federal courts with claims otherwise redressable in state courts or administrative proceedings . . . . Id., at 800.

probable cause, thereby subjecting him to great humiliation. embarrassment, and mental suffering. Bivens held that the Fourth Amendment guarantee against "unreasonable searches and seizures" was a constitutional right which Bivens could enforce through a private cause of action, and that a damages remedy was an appropriate form of redress. Last Term, Butz v. Economou, 438 U. S. 478 (1978), reaffirmed this holding, stating that "the decision in Bivens established that a citizen suffering a compensable injury to a constitutionally protected interest could invoke the general federal-question jurisdiction of the district courts to obtain an award of monetary damages against the responsible federal official." Id., at 504.

Today we hold that Bivens and Butz require reversal of the holding of the en banc Court of Appeals. Our inquiry proceeds in three stages. We hold first that, pretermitting the question whether respondent's conduct is shielded by the Speech or Debate Clause, petitioner asserts a constitutionally protected right; second, that petitioner has stated a cause of action which asserts this right; and third, that relief in damages constitutes an appropriate form of remedy.

A

The Fifth Amendment provides that "[n]o person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law In numerous decisions, this Court "has held that the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment forbids the Federal Government to deny equal protection of the laws. E. g., Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong, 426 U. S. 88, 100 (1976); Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1, 93 (1976); Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U. S. 636, 638 n. 2 (1975); Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U. S. 497, 500 (1954)." Vance v. Bradley, 440 U. S. 93, 95 n. 1 (1979). "To withstand scrutiny under the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause, 'classifications by gender must serve important governmental objectives and must be

substantially related to achievement of those objectives.' Craig v. Boren, 429 U. S. 190, 197 (1976)." Califano v. Webster, 430 U. S. 313, 316–317 (1977). The equal protection component of the Due Process Clause thus confers on petitioner a federal constitutional right 10 to be free from gender discrimination which cannot meet these requirements.11

Before it can be determined whether petitioner's Fifth Amendment right has been violated, therefore, inquiry must be undertaken into what "important governmental objectives," if any, are served by the genderbased employment of congressional staff. See n. 21, infra. We express no views as to the outcome of this inquiry.

10 This right is personal; it is petitioner, after all, who must suffer the effects of such discrimination. See Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U. S. 677, 690-693, n. 13 (1979); cf. Monongahela Navigation Co. v. United States, 148 U. S. 312, 326 (1893).

11 Respondent argues that the subject matter of petitioner's suit is nonjusticiable because judicial review of congressional employment decisions would necessarily involve a "lack of the respect due coordinate branches of government." Baker v. Carr, 369 U. S. 186, 217 (1962). We disagree. While we acknowledge the gravity of respondent's concerns, we hold that judicial review of congressional employment decisions is constitutionally limited only by the reach of the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, Art. I, § 6, cl. 1. The Clause provides that Senators and Representatives, "for any Speech or Debate in either House, . . shall not be questioned in any other Place." It protects Congressmen for conduct necessary to perform their duties "within the 'sphere of legitimate legislative activity.' Eastland v. United States Servicemen's Fund, 421 U. S. 491, 501 (1975). The purpose of the Clause is "to protect the integrity of the legislative process by insuring the independence of individual legislators." United States v. Brewster, 408 U. S. 501, 507 (1972). Thus "[i]n the American governmental structure the clause serves the . . . function of reinforcing the separation of powers so deliberately established by the Founders." United States v. Johnson, 383 U. S. 169, 178 (1966). The Clause is therefore a paradigm example of "a textually demonstrable constitutional commitment of [an] issue to a coordinate political department." Baker v. Carr, supra, at 217. Since the Speech or Debate Clause speaks so directly to the separation-of-powers concerns raised by respondent, we conclude that if respondent is not shielded by the Clause, the question whether his dismissal of petitioner violated her Fifth Amend

We inquire next whether petitioner has a cause of action to assert this right.

B

It is clear that the District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U. S. C. § 1331 (a) to consider petitioner's claim. Bell v. Hood, 327 U. S. 678 (1946). It is equally clear, and the en banc Court of Appeals so held, that the Fifth Amendment confers on petitioner a constitutional right to be free from illegal discrimination.12 Yet the Court of Appeals concluded

ment rights would, as we stated in Powell v. McCormack, 395 U. S. 486, 548-549 (1969), "require no more than an interpretation of the Constitution. Such a determination falls within the traditional role accorded courts to interpret the law, and does not involve a lack of respect due [a] coordinate branch of government,' nor does it involve an 'initial policy determination of a kind clearly for non-judicial discretion.' Baker v. Carr, 369 U. S. 186, at 217."

The en banc Court of Appeals did not decide whether the conduct of respondent was shielded by the Speech or Debate Clause. In the absence of such a decision, we also intimate no view on this question. We note, however, that the Clause shields federal legislators with absolute immunity "not only from the consequences of litigation's results but also from the burden of defending themselves." Dombrowski v. Eastland, 387 U. S. 82, 85 (1967). Defenses based upon the Clause should thus ordinarily be given priority, since federal legislators should be exempted from litigation if their conduct is in fact protected by the Clause. We nevertheless decline to remand this case to the en banc Court of Appeals before we have decided whether petitioner's complaint states a cause of action, and whether a damages remedy is an appropriate form of relief. These questions are otherwise properly before us and may be resolved without imposing on respondent additional litigative burdens. Refusal to decide them at this time may actually increase these burdens.

12 The restraints of the Fifth Amendment reach far enough to embrace the official actions of a Congressman in hiring and dismissing his employees. That respondent's conduct may have been illegal does not suffice to transform it into merely private action. "[P]ower, once granted, does not disappear like a magic gift when it is wrongfully used." Bivens, 403 U. S., at 392. See Home Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Los Angeles, 227 U. S. 278, 287-289 (1913).

that petitioner could not enforce this right because she lacked a cause of action. The meaning of this missing "cause of action," however, is far from apparent.

99 14

Almost half a century ago, Mr. Justice Cardozo recognized that a "'cause of action' may mean one thing for one purpose and something different for another." United States v. Memphis Cotton Oil Co., 288 U. S. 62, 67-68 (1933).13 The phrase apparently became a legal term of art when the New York Code of Procedure of 1848 abolished the distinction between actions at law and suits in equity and simply required a plaintiff to include in his complaint "[a] statement of the facts constituting the cause of action . . . 1848 N. Y. Laws, ch. 379, § 120 (2). By the first third of the 20th century, however, the phrase had become so encrusted with doctrinal complexity that the authors of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure eschewed it altogether, requiring only that a complaint contain "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 8 (a). See Original Ballet Russe, Ltd. v. Ballet Theatre, Inc., 133 F. 2d 187, 189 (CA2 1943). Nevertheless, courts and commentators have continued to use the phrase "cause of action" in the traditional sense established by the Codes to refer roughly to the alleged invasion of "recognized legal rights" upon which a litigant bases his claim for relief.15

13 See United States v. Dickinson, 331 U. S. 745, 748 (1947); Arnold, The Code "Cause of Action" Clarified by United States Supreme Court, 19 A. B. A. J. 215 (1933).

14 See Clark, The Code Cause of Action, 33 Yale L. J. 817, 820 (1924); Blume, The Scope of a Civil Action, 42 Mich. L. Rev. 257 (1943).

15 See, e. g., United States v. Employing Plasterers Assn., 347 U. S. 186 (1954); 2A J. Moore, Federal Practice 8.13, pp. 1704-1705 (2d ed. 1975) ("Perhaps it is not entirely accurate to say, as one court has said, that 'it is only necessary to state a claim in the pleadings . . . and not a cause of action.' While the Rules have substituted 'claim' or 'claim for relief' in lieu of the older and troublesome term 'cause of action,' the pleading still must state a 'cause of action' in the sense that it must show 'that the pleader is