Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-480_b97c.pdf
Page Number: 4

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 20–480 
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DAVID BRYON BABCOCK, PETITIONER v.
 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, ACTING COMMISSIONER 
OF SOCIAL SECURITY 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT 

[January 13, 2022]

 JUSTICE BARRETT delivered the opinion of the Court. 
The Social Security Act generally reduces the benefits of
retirees  who  receive  payments  from  separate  pensions
based on employment not subject to Social Security taxes.
The reduction is not triggered, though, by payments “based
wholly on service as a member of a uniformed service.”  We 
must decide whether this exception applies to civil-service 
pension payments based on employment as a “dual-status
military technician”—a federal civilian employee who pro-
vides technical or administrative assistance to the National 
Guard.  We hold that it does not. 

I 
A 
Retirees  receive  Social  Security  benefits  according  to  a 
statutory  formula  based  on  average  past  earnings.  42 
U. S. C. §415(a)(1)(A).  The formula is progressive in that it 
awards lower earners a higher percentage of their earnings. 
(Think of it like an income tax that lets you keep more of 
your  1st  dollar  earned  than  your  10,000th.)    But  the  for-
mula  originally  did  not  count  earnings  from  jobs  exempt