WASHINGTON – With a full repeal of Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) now signed into law, the Social Security Administration (SSA) must provide Congress and the public with clear guidance on how it will deliver immediate relief to those who have been impacted by the flawed WEP and GPO, demanded Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (Mo.) and Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Ron Estes (Kan.) in a letter today to SSA Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin:
“The Committee on Ways and Means has devoted significant time and attention to examining the WEP and GPO, two flawed policies that impact the Social Security benefits of millions of public servants throughout the country, including holding two hearings on these provisions during the 118th Congress. While the Social Security Fairness Act did not benefit from the technical refinements that result from committee consideration, its passage is a clear, bipartisan, and overwhelming representation of the will of Congress. As such, we are committed to ensuring that the Social Security Administration (SSA) implement the law as quickly and as smoothly as possible to provide needed and timely relief to those who have been unfairly harmed by these policies.”
Smith and Estes’s letter reflects the Ways and Means Committee’s recent, concerted effort to address this issue – including holding more hearings over the past two years than any other Congress over the past 20 years. It calls on Acting Commissioner Colvin to provide details on how the SSA will ensure beneficiaries receive the proper benefits they are owed without delay and without imposing an undue burden on those affected by the change in law. The agency is to explain in detail what guidance will be provided to beneficiaries and what additional resources the agency might need so that action is immediate – particularly for those Americans who have been waiting decades for relief.
Read the full letter here.
Background:
- The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) was signed into law on January 5, 2025 – repealing the WEP and GPO, effective December 2023.
- WEP and GPO were enacted into law in 1983 and primarily affected state and local government employees, like teachers, police officers, and firefighters, and federal government employees who received a pension based on earnings that are exempt from Social Security payroll taxes.
- WEP reduced the benefits of certain beneficiaries who are entitled to both Social Security benefits and pension benefits from employment not covered by Social Security
- GPO was intended to replicate Social Security’s dual entitlement rule for benefits earned from contributions made to a Social Security substitute plan.
