According to recent news, there is currently a push to expand Social Security benefits under the Trump administration. Despite an unexpected attempt to impede the effort by hard-right Freedom Caucus leaders, the House is anticipated to attempt to approve a Social Security-related bill next week in order to guarantee benefits for workers who are also eligible for other pensions. It’s a quick turn to save the bipartisan attempt to pass the package during the lame-duck session of Congress after the elections. Learn more about what is going on here. 

Some Social Security benefits will be expanded under the Trump administration

With 300 members, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, supporting the bill to eliminate the so-called government pensions offset, it has been gathering traction in the House. The legislative summary states that in many cases, widows, widowers, and spouses who also get government pensions see a reduction in their Social Security income due to the government pension offset. That clause would be removed by the bill, and full Social Security benefits would be restored. The bill’s proponents, Republican Representative Garrett Graves of Louisiana and Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, employed a discharge petition—a rarely effective procedure—to push the legislation through.

Moreover, to remove the bill from the committee and take it to the floor for a vote, they gathered the bare minimum of 218 signatures from House members. The action is often viewed as offensive by House leaders, particularly the majority leader and the speaker, who set the floor schedule. However, neither Spanberger nor Graves had anything to lose because they chose not to run for reelection. In addition, Johnson supported the bill before being elected speaker.

How did conservative lawmakers block it?

While most of Congress was in their home states on Election Day, two leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus stepped in. During Tuesday’s regular pro forma session of the House, former chair Republican Bob Goode, R-Va., and Republican Andy Harris, R-Md., quickly tabled a portion of the proposal. New spending is usually blocked by the Freedom Caucus. According to the impartial Congressional Budget Office, the bill would increase the government deficit by around $196 billion over ten years.  

According to Graves, that is the amount that Americans would lose out on if full Social Security benefits were reinstated. Although the conservatives did not amend the bill itself, they did set back its procedural rule when they tabulated it. It is anticipated that the legislation will proceed with a House vote nevertheless, perhaps within the next week. But now, passing will be more difficult, needing a supermajority threshold instead of a simple majority as had been intended under the rule that the leaders of the Freedom Caucus retracted.

Which Americans would benefit if the bill became effective?

If passed, the bill would eliminate the clauses that lower Social Security benefits for people who get other benefits, such as a state or local government pension, according to the summary. According to the report, the plan also does away with the so-called windfall elimination provision, which, in some situations, reduces Social Security benefits for those who also get a disability benefit or pension from an employer who did not withhold payroll taxes.

It’s uncertain if the bill has enough support to pass the Senate after passing the House. However, the House’s large margin suggests that support may be widespread. After there, it would reach President Joe Biden’s desk. According to the summary, the modifications will take effect for benefits payable after December 2023 if they are enacted into law. For this reason, Social Security beneficiaries should keep up to date with this subject to know if they will be affected or not. 

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