Six petitioners (including Carr) who applied for disability benefits were denied by the
Social Security Administration (SSA). They each unsuccessfully challenged their respective adverse benefit determination in a hearing before an SSA
administrative law judge (ALJ). The SSA Appeals Council denied discretionary review in each case. Thereafter, the Supreme Court decided
Lucia v. SEC, which held that the appointment of
Securities and Exchange Commission ALJs by lower level staff violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause. Because the SSA ALJs who denied these claims were also appointed by lower level staff, petitioners argued in federal court that they were entitled to a fresh administrative review by constitutionally appointed ALJs. In each case, the Court of Appeals held that petitioners could not obtain
judicial review of their Appointments Clause claims because they failed to raise those challenges in their administrative proceedings. ==Opinion of the court==