Whether prior drug convictions eligible for the career offender sentencing enhancement in 28 U.S.C. § 994(h) must involve a 'controlled substance' as defined in the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq.

QUESTION PRESENTED Statutory directives to administrative agencies have one permissible interpretation: “[T]he one the court, after applying all relevant interpretive tools, concludes is best.” Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 144 S. Ct. 2244, 2266 (2024). One such statutory directive is 28 U.S.C. § 994(h), which requires the United States Sentencing Commission to “assure that the guidelines specify a sentence to a term of imprisonment at or near the maximum term” for certain recidivist offenders engaged in violent crime or drug trafficking. Congress identified the “categor[y]” of eligible drug traffickers as those convicted of certain enumerated federal drug crimes with two prior felony convictions for “an offense described in section 401 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841), sections 1002(a), 1005, and 1009 of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 955, and 959), and chapter 705 of title 46.” 28 U.S.C. §§ 994(h)(1)(B), (h)(2)(B). The Commission implemented 28 U.S.C. § 994(h) through the Career Offender Guideline. Under this Guideline, an offense level and criminal history category yielding a range near the crime’s statutory maximum is dictated for defendants convicted of “a controlled substance offense” with two prior felony convictions for a “controlled substance offense.” U.S.S8.G. §§ 4B1.1(a)-(b). A “controlled substance offense” is defined as “an offense under federal or state law” that “prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) or the possession of a controlled 1 substance (or a counterfeit substance) with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense[,]” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(b)(1). The question presented, on which the circuits are divided, is: Whether prior drug convictions eligible for the career offender sentencing enhancement in 28 U.S.C. § 994(h) must involve a “controlled substance” as defined in the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. i