Whether Rule 19 requires dismissal of APA suits challenging federal agency action whenever a nonparty who benefited from that action asserts sovereign immunity

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) provides that a ny person “adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action *** is entitled to judicial review.” 5 U.S.C. § 702. But the Ninth Circuit holds that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 requires dismissal of an APA suit whenever a n Indian tribe that is not a party to the case , but benefits from the challenged federal agency action , claims an interest in the dispute and invokes sovereign immunity to avoid being joined . Applying that rule , the Ninth Circuit in this case upheld the dismissal under Rule 19 of petitioner’s APA suit seeking review of the Secretary of the Interior ’s approval of tribal -state compacts —which the agency is actively defending —because a nonparty tribe, respondent Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe , benefits from that agency action but refused to be joined based on sovereign immunity. The question presented is : Whether Rule 19 requires dismissal of APA suits challenging federal agency action whenever a nonparty who benefited from that action asserts sover-eign immunity.