Enactment of a bill to repeal the government pension offset and windfall elimination provisions caps efforts over several decades targeting those Social Security provisions that affect those retired—or who will retire—under the CSRS system, but there is uncertainty regarding the timing of the next steps.
“Getting to this point for Social Security fairness has been a very long time coming, and there are affected civil servants and retirees who could not witness this tremendous, life-changing milestone,” said the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. NARFE has been the primary voice in advocating for repeal, although federal employee unions and other organizations also lobbied on the issue.
The WEP reduces a Social Security benefit earned through employment covered that system of someone drawing a benefit from a retirement system that does not include it, such as CSRS. The reduction, up to above $500 a month currently, is not as severe for those with at least 20 years of Social Security-covered earnings above an annual threshold and is eliminated for those with 30 or more years.