The House of Representatives finally appears ready to repeal the WEP and GPO

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives finally appear poised to pass legislation to repeal two controversial tax provisions that affect the pension benefits of some federal retirees, despite attempts this week to derail the vote.

Last September, Reps. Garret Graves, R-La., and Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., received the 218 signatures needed for a dismissal motion to force a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), a measure that would eliminate the Social Security windfall elimination provision and the state pension equalization. Before the petition campaign, the bill already had more than 300 supporters.

The deadweight elimination provision reduces the Social Security benefits of retired federal employees who spent part of their careers in the private sector in addition to a federal, state, or local government job that does not provide Social Security as a component of their retirement income , z as the public service pension system. And the state pension equalization reduces Social Security benefits for spouses and survivors in families with retired state employees.

The successful relief proposal requires House Speaker Mike Johnson, himself a co-sponsor of the bill, to call the measure for a vote when Congress returns to Washington. The measure is on a list of bills that House leadership wants to pass under suspension of the rules, a fast track that will require support from two-thirds of lawmakers next week, despite an unsuccessful ploy to increase the bill’s momentum by two D.C. to slow down MPs. Area Conservatives this week.

Shortly after 5 p.m. on Election Day, Reps. Bob Good, R-Va., and Andy Harris, R-Md., the former and current chairs of the House Freedom Caucus, respectively, held a pro forma session in the House of Representatives. Good asked for a unanimous vote Approved the submission of the law – and thereby killed the bill. The exchange was first reported by Roll Call.

But the move apparently failed for two reasons. Because a House parliamentarian first informed Good and Harris in the House, unanimous consent requests first had to be cleared with the Speaker of the House and the House Minority Leader.

And second, while Freedom Caucus members brought Graves and Spanberger’s bill to the table, the dismissal motion requires the speaker to schedule a vote on the rules governing the bill’s consideration in the full House. In fact, the measure is at the top of the list of House bills scheduled to be considered next week under suspension of the rules. The last update occurred an hour after the pro forma meeting.

It remains unclear how the measure would fare in the Senate, where companion legislation has the support of 63 senators but has stalled in committee since it was introduced last year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the measure would cost $196 billion in additional Social Security spending over the next decade.