Social Security Administration Sends Out Payments on Accelerated Timeline After WEP/GPO Repeal
The wait is just about over for roughly 3.2 million public employees, retirees, and beneficiaries to collect full Social Security benefits after the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act.
This month the Social Security Administration (SSA) started sending out checks to retirees impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
The checks are for retroactive payments dating back to January 2024 as required under the law. Most should be sent out by the end of March.
Lawmakers have been pressing SSA for rapid implementation of the law.
“Those who have suffered under the failures of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) do not have the time to wait a year or more until they start seeing changes to their benefits,” Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) wrote in a letter to SSA in February.
SSA aims to start paying full Social Security benefits for everyone going forward starting in April.
It’s an accelerated timeline thanks to automation.
“The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible,” said Acting Commissioner of Social Security Lee Dudek.
Law Ended WEP/GPO
The Social Security Fairness Act was passed by the prior Congress right before recess and signed into law by President Biden on January 5, 2025.
The law repealed WEP and GPO, which were in force for four decades.
WEP reduced Social Security benefits for public servants like teachers and firefighters who received pensions from work not covered by Social Security.
GPO reduced the amount of a spouse's Social Security benefit if their partner received a non-Social Security pension.
All affected beneficiaries will receive a note in the mail with details about the retroactive payment and their new benefit amount. In some cases, these letters will arrive after the checks for the retroactive payments.
The change in benefit amounts will vary. Some recipients could receive an extra $1,000 plus a month.
SSA asks that anyone who has questions about the retroactive payment wait until April, and that anyone who has questions about their new monthly benefit amount wait until after they have received their April monthly check.
Federal employee groups applauded the accelerated timeline.
“This is much quicker than previously forecasted, and will have an immediate, positive impact on those who have been waiting decades for this relief,” said John Hatton, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) staff vice president of policy and programs.