The Act provides, it is true, that a decision may be reached by a three-judge court if a "majority of said three judges" concur. But that means only that the decision of the three judges need not be unanimous; it does not imply that two judges alone may hear and determine the case. Moreover, we cannot say that the failure of the third judge to participate in the determination of a case, where the other two are in agreement as to the result, is without significance. The decision reached by two judges is not necessarily the one which might have been reached had they had the benefit of the views and conclusions of the third judge. And should the latter have publicly indicated an opinion differing from that of his colleagues, his position might be helpful to the litigants and to this Court if the case were appealed. It is readily apparent that this statutory requirement has not been met in this case. While all three judges of the specially constituted court heard the oral argument, only two of them participated in the determination of the case. The findings of fact, the conclusions of law and the judgment were all entered without the approval, concurrence or dissent of the third judge. He thus missed the very essence of the judicial function in this case-the actual adjudication of the issues of law and fact. All that we have here is an adjudication by two judges. But under the statute it is not enough that there be an adjudication by two judges. They lack any statutory authority to hear and determine an application to enjoin the enforcement of a Commission order. Any action of theirs in granting or denying such an application is as void as similar action by a single judge. See Cumberland Tel. Co. v. Public Service Commission, supra, 218-219; Stratton v. St. Louis S. W. R. Co., 282 U. S. 10, 16. It is suggested, however, that the three-judge requirement applies only to applications for interlocutory injunc Opinion of the Court. 331 U. S. tions against the enforcement of Interstate Commerce Commission orders; and since the decision in this case was one denying a permanent injunction, no complaint can be made that the decision was rendered by less than three judges. Reference is made in this respect to § 266 of the Judicial Code, 28 U. S. C. § 380, which deals with injunctions against the enforcement of state statutes or state administrative orders on the ground of unconstitutionality of the statute involved. Prior to 1925, that section indicated that a three-judge court was necessary only to pass upon applications for interlocutory injunctions. A single judge had jurisdiction to hear the cause on final hearing and to grant or deny a permanent injunction, thereby permitting him to reconsider and decide questions already passed upon by the three judges on the application for an interlocutory injunction. To end that anomalous situation, an amendment was added by the Act of February 13, 1925, 43 Stat. 938, to the effect that "The requirement respecting the presence of three judges shall also apply to the final hearing in such suit in the district court The problem then arose as to whether the words "such suit" in this amendment referred only to a suit in which an interlocutory injunction was in fact sought or to a suit in which it might have been, but was not, requested. A series of decisions by this Court has made it clear that the former interpretation is the correct one. A three-judge court must be convened for final hearings on applications for permanent injunctions against the enforcement of state statutes only where an interlocutory injunction has been sought and pressed to a hearing. Moore v. Fidelity & Deposit Co., 272 U. S. 317; Smith v. Wilson, 273 U. S. 388; Public Service Commission v. Wisconsin Telephone Co., 289 U. S. 67; McCart v. Indianapolis Water Co., 302 U. S. 419. Where an interlocutory injunction is not 132 Opinion of the Court. sought and pressed, a single judge may hear and determine the application for a permanent injunction. By analogy, it is claimed that the same rule should obtain under the Urgent Deficiencies Act, that a threejudge court should be necessary for final hearings on applications for permanent injunctions only where interlocutory injunctions have been sought and pressed. While it is admitted that an interlocutory injunction was sought in this case, the argument is made that the application was not pressed to a hearing, the need for such temporary relief having been eliminated by the postponement of the effective date of the Commission order. The whole emphasis of the Act, like that of § 266 of the Judicial Code, is said to be directed toward the prevention of improvident issuance of interlocutory injunctions or restraining orders. Since there was no such danger in this case, the conclusion is reached that the underlying reason for the convening of a three-judge district court is absent here. The answer to this argument is to be found in the clear language of the Act itself. It provides simply: "and upon the final hearing of any suit brought to suspend or set aside, in whole or in part, any order of said commission the same requirement as to judges and the same procedure as to expedition and appeal shall apply." Unlike § 266 of the Judicial Code, there is no reference here to "such suit" to a suit where an interlocutory injunction is sought and pressed. Rather there is an unambiguous reference to the final hearing of "any suit" brought to enjoin the enforcement of a Commission order. That can only mean any suit seeking permanent relief, regardless of whether interlocutory relief is also requested. And since "the same requirement as to judges" is to apply to the final hearing of any suit, three judges must hear and determine the matter. Opinion of the Court. 331 U.S. In addition, this portion of the Urgent Deficiencies Act was part of the original enactment and was not added to meet a problem like that which arose under § 266 of the Judicial Code. It was drawn against a background of prior statutes which provided for injunctive relief against the enforcement of Commission orders without regard to the presence of a request for temporary relief. The Hepburn Act required a three-judge court for "all" suits brought to enjoin a Commission order, "including the hearing on an application for a preliminary injunction,"-a clear indication that a three-judge court was also necessary where only permanent relief was sought. And the statute which created the Commerce Court, from which the district courts inherited their jurisdiction in this instance, referred to "cases" brought to enjoin or set aside Commission orders, making no distinction as to those in which only permanent relief was sought. We can only conclude that the framers of the Urgent Deficiencies Act meant to require a three-judge court in any suit brought to enjoin the enforcement of a Commission order, including a suit where an interlocutory injunction is not sought and pressed to a hearing. Time and again this Court has referred to the threejudge court requirement under this Act without making the distinction which has been made under § 266 of the Judicial Code. Lambert Co. v. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co., 258 U. S. 377, 381-382; Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. United States, 279 U. S. 781, 784-785; United States v. Griffin, supra, 232-233. Indeed, without passing upon the precise problem, this Court has affirmed judgments of threejudge district courts which had granted permanent injunctions in cases where no interlocutory injunctions had been sought or pressed. See, e. g., United States v. Idaho, 298 U. S. 105. And see Hudson & Manhattan R. Co. v. United States, 28 F. Supp. 137, 140. 132 5 Opinion of the Court. The language and background of the Act, which have been augmented by the consistent understanding of this Court, thus combine to require the use of a three-judge district court in all cases in which a permanent or interlocutory injunction is sought against the enforcement of a Commission order. It matters not in a particular case whether an interlocutory injunction is requested or whether, if such relief is asked, the application is pressed to a hearing. This Act seeks to guard against more than an improvident issuance of interlocutory injunctions by single judges; it also seeks to prevent single judges from 5 The same understanding, that the Urgent Deficiencies Act requires three judges for all applications to enjoin Commission orders while § 266 of the Judicial Code requires a three-judge court only for applications for interlocutory injunctions, is shown in the remarks of Mr. Justice Van Devanter at the Hearing before the Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on S. 2060 and S. 2061, 68th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 33 (S. 2060 later became the Act of February 13, 1925): "Section 238 as amended and reenacted in the bill would permit cases falling within four particular classes, and those only, to come from the district courts directly to the Supreme Court. The first and fourth classes are confined to antitrust and interstate commerce cases covered by the second section of the expedition act of February 11, 1903, and the provision in the act of October 22, 1913, respecting the enforcement, suspension, etc., of orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission. These cases are heard in the district court by three judges, one of whom must be a circuit judge. This and the character of the cases make it suggest that they should go directly to the Supreme Court rather than through the circuit courts of appeals. The third class is confined to cases wherein the enforcement of a State statute or of an order of a State board or commission is suspended by an interlocutory injunction. Applications for such injunctions are heard in the district court by three judges, one being a circuit judge. These injunctions now go directly to the Supreme Court for review, and the bill continues that procedure. . . . See also Mr. Justice Van Devanter's remarks at Hearing before House Committee on the Judiciary on H. R. 8206, 68th Cong., 2d Sess., |