In the United States ex rel. McLennan v. Wilbur case of 1930, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Secretary of Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, upholding his decision to cancel oil leases on public lands that had been granted under questionable circumstances during President Harding's administration. The plaintiff, McLennan, argued that he was entitled to a judicial review before cancellation could take place and claimed damages for breach of contract when this did not occur. However, the court found no legal basis for these claims as it held that such leases were subject to cancellation by administrative action if they were improperly or illegally issued - even without judicial proceedings beforehand.

In the dissenting opinion for United States ex rel. McLennan v. Wilbur, Justice Holmes disagreed with the majority's decision to deny relief to McLennan, a non-Indian who had leased land from an Indian tribe without approval from the Secretary of Interior as required by law. He argued that while it was true that Congress had given authority over such leases to the Secretary of Interior, this did not mean that all unapproved leases were automatically voided; rather they were merely subject to being declared void at some future date if and when they came under scrutiny by government officials. Therefore, he believed that until such time as these leases were officially declared null and void by appropriate authorities (which hadn't happened in this case), they should be considered valid contracts between consenting parties and thus enforceable under law.