Defenbaugh

MEMORANDUM *

The facts and procedural posture of the case are known to the parties, and we do not repeat them here. Appellant Jimmie Defenbaugh presents two challenges to the Commissioner’s denial of his application for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits. We address each in turn.

First, Appellant asserts that the administrative law judge (ALJ) improperly rejected the conclusions of a 2003 functional capacity evaluation conducted at a Veterans Administration (VA) medical center in finding Appellant’s residual functional capacity and in posing a hypothetical to a vocational expert based on that finding. We conclude that the ALJ properly rejected the conclusions of the VA functional capacity evaluation because the physical limitations described in that evaluation were not attributable to “a medically determinable impairment or a combination of such impairments” within the meaning of the Social Security Act. See 20 C.F.R. § 416.929 (b); SSR 96-8p. Substantial evidence supports the ALJ’s determination of Appellant’s residual functional capacity, and the ALJ properly propounded a hypothetical to a vocational expert based on that residual functional capacity. See…