On Jan. 5, 2025, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act(SSFA) into law, repealing two onerous Social Security provisions: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – or the “Evil Twins,” as the late columnist Mike Causey dubbed them. The law restored full Social Security benefits to millions of retired public service workers, including federal retirees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System.
Although federal employees who paid into the Civil Service Retirement System were exempt from FICA taxes, many had worked in Social Security-covered employment before, after, or even during their federal employment, as well as serving in the military, where FICA taxes have been paid since 1957. The SSFA also restored spousal and widows’ benefits previously reduced by the GPO.
The SSFA is retroactive to Jan. 2024, meaning Dec. 2023 is the last month the WEP and GPO applied. This was welcome news for millions of public servants who had been receiving reduced retirement benefits and often were prevented from receiving spousal and widows’ benefits. However, some individuals are not entitled to retroactive payments. Those who have not applied for Social Security retirement benefits yet will not see the impact of this law until they begin receiving benefits.
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