Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security v. Catherine G. Ratliff

Decided June 14, 2010. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 08-1322 · 560 U.S. 586 (2010) · Cited 6,704 times

Holding

A § 2412(d)(1)(A) attorney’s fees award is payable to the litigant and is therefore subject to an offset to satisfy the litigant’s pre-existing debt to the Government.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human Resources · 532 U.S. 598 (2001)
• Gisbrecht v. Barnhart · 535 U.S. 789 (2002)
• Bartlett v. Strickland · 556 U.S. 1 (2009)
• Commissioner, Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Jean · 496 U.S. 154 (1990)
• Sullivan v. Hudson · 490 U.S. 877 (1989)
• Scarborough v. Principi · 541 U.S. 401 (2004)
• Evans v. Jeff D. Ex Rel. Johnson · 475 U.S. 717 (1986)
• Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
• Shalala v. Schaefer · 509 U.S. 292 (1993)
• Missouri v. Jenkins Ex Rel. Agyei · 491 U.S. 274 (1989)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Hewitt v. Helms · 482 U.S. 755 (1987)
• Arthur Andersen LLP v. Carlisle · 556 U.S. 624 (2009)
• Key Tronic Corp. v. United States · 511 U.S. 809 (1994)
• Venegas v. Mitchell · 495 U.S. 82 (1990)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc. · 566 U.S. 93 (2012)
• Delligatti v. United States · 604 U.S. 423 (2025)
• Babcock v. Kijakazi · 595 U.S. 77 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2010). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).