Supreme Court of the United States
Lockhart v. United States
December 7, 2005546 U.S. 142
Summary
The Court held that the United States may offset Social Security benefits to collect student loan debts outstanding for over 10 years. The Higher Education Technical Amendments removed the 10-year time limit on student loans, and the Debt Collection Improvement Act explicitly authorized offsets of Social Security benefits despite the Social Security Act's anti-attachment provisions. Justice Scalia concurred, agreeing with the result but arguing that express-reference requirements cannot bind a succeeding Congress.