Tommy Phillips v. Kilolo Kijakazi

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

___________________________

No. 21-2876

___________________________

Tommy L. Phillips

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant

v.

Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security Administration

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellee

____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis

____________

Submitted: April 21, 2022 Filed: April 26, 2022

[Unpublished]

____________

Before COLLOTON, ERICKSON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.

____________

PER CURIAM.

Tommy Phillips appeals the district court’s1 order affirming the decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, which awarded him disability

1 The Honorable Audrey G. Fleissig, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.

insurance benefits (DIB) and supplemental security income (SSI) based on claims filed in 2017, but denied his request to reopen his prior DIB and SSI claims filed in 2012. Upon careful review, we affirm. See Kraus v. Saul, 988 F.3d 1019, 1023-24 (8th Cir. 2021) (de novo review of district court’s judgment; Commissioner’s decision will be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence in record as whole and is not based on any legal error).

We agree that the district court lacked jurisdiction to review the Commissioner’s refusal to reopen Phillips’s 2012 claims. See Efinchuk v. Astrue, 480 F.3d 846, 848 (8th Cir. 2007) (courts generally lack jurisdiction to review Commissioner’s refusal to reopen prior proceeding); 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.903(l), 416.1403(a)(5) (denial of request to reopen prior determination is administrative action not subject to judicial review). As Phillips has not challenged the merits of the Commissioner’s favorable decision on his 2017 DIB and SSI claims, we find that the district court properly affirmed that decision. Finally, we find no merit to Phillips’s allegation of bias by the district court. See Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (1994) (judicial rulings alone almost never constitute valid basis for finding of bias).

The judgment is affirmed.

______________________________