Flippo v. Social Security Administration, Commissioner

Ricky Flippo applied for Social Security disability benefits. After an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) denied his claim following a hearing, Flippo sought judicial review. He argued the ALJ was not properly appointed under the Constitution's Appointments Clause because the ALJ had been selected by an acting commissioner who lacked the required presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. The district court rejected this challenge. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed. The court acknowledged that under the Supreme Court's decision in Carr v. Saul, Flippo was not required to exhaust the Appointments Clause claim at the agency level. However, it held that Social Security Commissioner's July 2018 blanket ratification of all ALJ appointments cured any constitutional defect before Flippo's hearing occurred, rendering his challenge unsuccessful.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment. It held that the Commissioner's ratification of the ALJ appointments resolved the constitutional claim, and the denial of disability benefits was therefore upheld.

The primary dispute centered on whether the Commissioner of Social Security's ratification of Administrative Law Judge appointments effectively cured any constitutional violation under the Appointments Clause, thereby precluding a claimant from obtaining a new hearing. A secondary issue concerned whether a claimant must raise an Appointments Clause challenge during administrative proceedings.

The ruling reinforced the validity of the Social Security Administration's remedial ratification of ALJ appointments. It closed the door on a significant wave of Appointments Clause litigation against the agency, providing legal certainty to hundreds of thousands of past benefit determinations and preventing the need for costly rehearings. The decision clarified that post-hoc ratification is an effective tool to cure structural constitutional errors in the administrative adjudication context.