(1954), for example, claimed that they had been refused admission into certain public schools in the District of Columbia solely on account of their race. They rested their suit directly on the Fifth Amendment and on the general federalquestion jurisdiction of the district courts, 28 U. S. C. § 1331. The District Court dismissed their complaint for failure “to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 12 (b)(6). This Court reversed. Plaintiffs were clearly the appropriate parties to bring such a suit, and this Court held that equitable relief should be made available. 349 U. S. 294 (1955).

Like the plaintiffs in Bolling v. Sharpe, supra, petitioner rests her claim directly on the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. She claims that her rights under the Amendment have been violated, and that she has no effective means other than the judiciary to vindicate these rights."1

use without just compensation could bring suit directly under the Fifth Amendment.

21 Clause 9 of Rule XLIII of the House of Representatives prohibits sex discrimination as part of the Code of Official Conduct of the House:

"A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives shall not discharge or refuse to hire any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin."

Clause 9 was adopted on January 14, 1975, see 121 Cong. Rec. 22, approximately six months after petitioner's discharge. In 1977, the House Commission on Administrative Review ("Obey Commission") termed "the anti-discrimination provisions of Rule XLIII... all but unenforceable." House Commission on Administrative Review, Recommendations and Rationales Concerning Administrative Units and Work Management, 95th Cong., 1st Sess., 53 (Comm. Print 1977). The Commission recommended the establishment of a Fair Employment Practices Panel to provide nonbinding conciliation in cases of alleged violations of Clause 9. See H. Res. 766, 95th Cong., 1st Sess., § 504 (1977); Commission on Administrative Review, supra, at 52-53. This proposal was prevented from reaching the House floor, however, when the House defeated the Rule which

Opinion of the Court

442 U.S. We conclude, therefore, that she is an appropriate party to invoke the general federal-question jurisdiction of the District Court to seek relief. She has a cause of action under the Fifth Amendment."

Although petitioner has a cause of action, her complaint might nevertheless be dismissed under Rule 12 (b)(6) unless it can be determined that judicial relief is available. We therefore proceed to consider whether a damages remedy is an appropriate form of relief.

would have governed consideration of the Obey Commission's resolution. See 123 Cong. Rec. 33435-33444 (Oct. 12, 1977).

On September 25, 1978, H. Res. 1380 was introduced calling for the implementation of Clause 9 through the creation of "a House Fair Employment Relations Board, a House Fair Employment Relations Office, and procedures for hearing and settling complaints alleging violations of Clause 9 of Rule XLIII . . . ." H. Res. 1380, 95th Cong., 2d Sess., §2 (1978). H. Res. 1380 was referred to the House Committees on Administration and Rules, where it apparently languished. See 124 Cong. Rec. 31334 (Sept. 25, 1978). The House failed to consider it before adjournment.

There presently exists a voluntary House Fair Employment Practices Agreement. Members of the House who have signed the Agreement elect a House Fair Employment Practices Committee, which has authority to investigate cases of alleged discrimination among participating Members. The Committee has no enforcement powers.

22 Five Courts of Appeals have implied causes of action directly under the Fifth Amendment. See Apton v. Wilson, 165 U. S. App. D. C. 22, 506 F. 2d 83 (1974); Sullivan v. Murphy, 156 U. S. App. D. C. 28, 478 F.2d 938 (1973); United States ex rel. Moore v. Koelzer, 457 F. 2d 892 (CA3 1972); Loe v. Armistead, 582 F. 2d 1291 (CA4 1978), cert. pending sub nom. Moffit v. Loe, No. 78-1260; States Marine Lines, Inc. v. Shultz, 498 F. 2d 1146 (CA4 1974); Green v. Carlson, 581 F. 2d 669 (CA7 1978), cert. pending, No. 78–1261; Jacobson v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 566 F. 2d 1353 (CA9 1977), reversed in part and affirmed in part on other grounds sub nom. Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 440 U. S. 391 (1979); Bennett v. Campbell, 564 F. 2d 329 (CA9 1977).

We approach this inquiry on the basis of established law. "[I]t is . . . well settled that where legal rights have been invaded, and a federal statute provides for a general right to sue for such invasion, federal courts may use any available remedy to make good the wrong done." Bell v. Hood, 327 U. S., at 684. Bivens, 403 U. S., at 396, holds that in appropriate circumstances a federal district court may provide relief in damages for the violation of constitutional rights if there are "no special factors counselling hesitation in the absence of affirmative action by Congress." See Butz v. Economou, 438 U. S., at 504.

First, a damages remedy is surely appropriate in this case. "Historically, damages have been regarded as the ordinary remedy for an invasion of personal interests in liberty." Bivens, supra, at 395. Relief in damages would be judicially manageable, for the case presents a focused remedial issue without difficult questions of valuation or causation. See 403 U. S., at 409 (Harlan, J., concurring in judgment). Litigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has given federal courts great experience evaluating claims for backpay due to illegal sex discrimination. See 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-5 (g). Moreover, since respondent is no longer a Congressman, see n. 1, supra, equitable relief in the form of reinstatement would be unavailing. And there are available no other alternative forms of judicial relief. For Davis, as for Bivens, “it is damages or nothing." 23 Bivens, supra, at 410 (Harlan, J., concurring in judgment).

23 Respondent does not dispute petitioner's claim that she "has no cause of action under Louisiana law." Brief for Petitioner 19. See 3 CCH Employment Practices 23,548 (Aug. 1978). And it is far from clear that a state court would have authority to effect a damages remedy against a United States Congressman for illegal actions in the course of his official conduct, even if a plaintiff's claim were grounded in the United States Constitution. See Tarble's Case, 13 Wall. 397 (1872). Deference to

Second, although a suit against a Congressman for putatively unconstitutional actions taken in the course of his official conduct does raise special concerns counseling hesitation, we hold that these concerns are coextensive with the protections afforded by the Speech or Debate Clause." See n. 11, supra. If respondent's actions are not shielded by the Clause, we apply the principle that "legislators ought... generally to be bound by [the law] as are ordinary persons." Gravel v. United States, 408 U. S. 606, 615 (1972). Cf. Doe v. McMillan, 412 U. S. 306, 320 (1973). As Butz v. Economou stated only last Term:

"Our system of jurisprudence rests on the assumption that all individuals, whatever their position in government, are subject to federal law:

"No man in this country is so high that he is above the law. No officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity. All officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of the law, and are bound to obey it.' United States v. Lee, 106 U. S. [196,] 220 [(1882)]." 438 U. S., at 506.25

Third, there is in this case "no explicit congressional declara

state-court adjudication in a case such as this would in any event not serve the purposes of federalism, since it involves the application of the Fifth Amendment to a federal officer in the course of his federal duties. It is therefore particularly appropriate that a federal court be the forum in which a damages remedy be awarded.

24 The reasoning and holding of Bivens is pertinent to the determination whether a federal court may provide a damages remedy. The question of the appropriateness of equitable relief in the form of reinstatement is not in this case, and we consequently intimate no view on that question.

25 The decision of the panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that respondent was not foreclosed "from asserting the same qualified immunity available to other government officials. See generally Wood v. Strickland, 420 U. S. 308 . . . (1975); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U. S. 232... (1974)." 544 F. 2d 865, 881 (1977). The en banc Court of Appeals did not reach this issue, and accordingly we express no view concerning its disposition by the panel.

tion that persons" in petitioner's position injured by unconstitutional federal employment discrimination "may not recover money damages from" those responsible for the injury. Bivens, supra, at 397. (Emphasis supplied.) The Court of Appeals apparently interpreted § 717 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 86 Stat. 111, 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-16, as an explicit congressional prohibition against judicial remedies for those in petitioner's position. When § 717 was added to Title VII to protect federal employees from discrimination, it failed to extend this protection to congressional employees such as petitioner who are not in the competitive service.26 See 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-16 (a). There is no evidence, however, that Congress meant § 717 to foreclose alternative remedies available to those not covered by the statute. Such silence is far from "the clearly discernible will of Congress" perceived by the Court of Appeals. 571 F. 2d, at 800. Indeed, the Court of Appeals' conclusion that § 717 permits judicial relief to be made available only to those who are protected by the statute is patently inconsistent with Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong, 426 U. S. 88 (1976), which held that equitable relief was available in a challenge to the constitutionality of Civil Service Commission regulations excluding aliens from federal employment. That § 717 does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of alienage 27 did not prevent Hampton from authorizing relief. In a similar manner, we do not now interpret § 717 to foreclose the judicial remedies of those expressly unprotected by the statute. On the contrary, § 717 leaves undisturbed whatever remedies petitioner might otherwise possess.

26 Since petitioner was not in the competitive service, see n. 2, supra, the remedial provisions of § 717 of Title VII are not available to her. In Brown v. GSA, 425 U. S. 820 (1976), we held that the remedies provided by § 717 are exclusive when those federal employees covered by the statute seek to redress the violation of rights guaranteed by the statute.

27 Section 717 prohibits discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-16 (a).