## Facts

- Kenneth Benjamin served as representative payee for his sister’s Social Security disability benefits and was treated as personally liable for overpayments made on her behalf.
- After the SSA determined the sister returned to work, benefits continued for several months, creating an overpayment of about $20,000.
- The SSA notified Benjamin it would recoup the overpayment by withholding $500 per month from Benjamin’s own Social Security benefits.
- Benjamin requested a waiver of the overpayment; the SSA began withholding before deciding the waiver request and later denied the waiver.
- Benjamin filed bankruptcy and, through an adversary proceeding, alleged the SSA violated its regulations/policies by recouping before resolving the waiver request and sought repayment of withheld amounts.

## Issues

1. Whether 42 U.S.C. § 405(h) bars a bankruptcy court from exercising jurisdiction over a debtor’s claim challenging the SSA’s overpayment recoupment and seeking repayment.
2. Whether a claim framed as an alleged violation of SSA regulations regarding recoupment timing is nevertheless a “claim arising under” the Social Security Act.
3. Whether bankruptcy jurisdiction statutes (including 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157) supply jurisdiction notwithstanding § 405(h)’s channeling into § 405(g).

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal of the adversary proceeding for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
- Benjamin’s claims were held to “arise under” the Social Security Act because they challenged the SSA’s overpayment/recoupment determination and sought repayment affecting benefits administration.
- Section 405(h) was held to bar reliance on general federal jurisdictional grants, including bankruptcy jurisdiction, and to require channeling through the Act’s exclusive review scheme under § 405(g).

## Legal Principles

- A claim “arises under” the Social Security Act when the Act supplies the standing and substantive basis for the claim or when the claim is inextricably intertwined with a benefits determination.
- Section 405(h) strips federal courts of jurisdiction under general jurisdictional statutes for claims arising under the Act and channels review through the administrative process and then judicial review under § 405(g).
- Recasting a benefits-related dispute as a regulatory or procedural challenge does not avoid § 405(h) when the relief sought would effectively alter or undo the SSA’s benefits-related determination.
- Bankruptcy jurisdiction does not override Congress’s exclusive review pathway for Social Security claims.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held that a debtor’s bankruptcy adversary proceeding challenging SSA overpayment recoupment and seeking repayment is a claim arising under the Social Security Act, so § 405(h) bars bankruptcy-court jurisdiction and requires pursuit of the Act’s administrative process followed by judicial review, if available, under § 405(g).


In re Benjamin v. United States (Soc. Sec. Admin.), 932 F.3d 293 (5th Cir. 2019)