Whether the Department of Veterans Affairs must provide individualized notice tailored to a veteran's specific claim, accounting for information previously submitted, when the agency receives a complete or substantially complete disability benefits application, as required by 38 U.S.C. § 5103(a)(1) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(b)(1), or whether pre-application generic notice satisfies the statutory and regulatory requirements

are of exceptional importance. The majority violated bedrock administrative law principles by effectively setting aside VA’s regulation as “outdated” and instructing the agency in a footnote to amend the regulation to match the majority’s view of how it should work. That ruling calls into question the legal force of properly promulgated regulations and the orderly relationship between agencie