Mary Alice GALBREATH, Appellee, v. Otis R. BOWEN, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services, Appellant

FLOYD R. GIBSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

In Galbreath v. Bowen, 799 F.2d 370 (8th Cir.1986), we affirmed the order of the district court directing the Secretary to pay an attorney’s fee from past-due supplemental security income (SSI) benefits awarded to Galbreath. We held that “[a]bsent express statutory prohibition, the district court possesses the inherent power to withhold and certify for payment an attorney’s fee from SSI benefits.” Id. at 374.

The United States Supreme Court granted the Secretary’s petition for writ of cer-tiorari and reversed, holding that the district court does not have…