Tommy L. Phillips v. Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security Administration

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 21-2876
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Tommy L. Phillips
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant
v.
Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security Administration
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellee
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
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Submitted: April 21, 2022
Filed: April 26, 2022
[Unpublished]
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Before COLLOTON, ERICKSON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
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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
1The Honorable Audrey G. Fleissig, United States District Judge for the
Eastern District of Missouri.

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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.
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