Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La, talks to press after exiting a meeting with House Republicans in the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Friday, December 20, 2024. Johnson's third attempt at a spending bill staved off a government shutdown. Image: Annabelle Gordon/UPI/Shutterstock
By: FEDweek StaffUpdated: The Senate voted 85-11 in the early hours of Saturday in favor of legislation to fund the government through March 14, just after approving a bill to repeal the Government Pension Offset.
The House early Friday evening passed a third version of a stopgap spending bill just hours before a shutdown was set to kick off. The latest iteration is basically the same as the second one that got shot down on Thrusday, but minus language raising the debt ceiling for two years. The resounding vote tally of 366-34 with one lawmaker voting present, was a good sign for the Senate following suit and heading off a lapse in funding and a lot of ensuing uncertainty and make-work.
Earlier in the week Congress had appeared to be on track to adjourn Thursday as planned, with continued funding for federal agencies, the annual defense authorization bill and a measure to repeal the Social Security government pension offset and windfall elimination provision among the planned last items of business.
The measure that was headed for a vote earlier in the week fell apart at the finish line, raising the prospect for a partial shutdown and hundreds of thousands of furloughs and delayed checks. Trump advisor Elon Musk had stepped up a pressure campaign on social media to oppose the deal, with Trump later calling for a narrower, stripped down bill and a demand to raise the debt ceiling ahead of him taking office.
By late Thursday afternoon House GOP leaders had cobbled together a new, slimmed down funding bill that like the first, would have lasted through mid-March. That deal contained a two-year suspension of the federal debt ceiling (a surprise last-minute demand by Trump) and that left in tact around $100 in disaster relief and farm bill funding. The original deal had a number of policy add-ons, not directly related to the federal workforce, sought mainly by Democrats, which were stripped out.
The House voted 147 – 235 against, with 38 Republicans voting nay, and lawmakers were left to attempt a compromise with time running out Friday. By Friday morning a third attempt began circulating that would not raise the debt ceiling – something that had rankled fiscal conservatives.
The final bill has less text (eight fewer policy provisions), but represents roughly the same amount of expenditure as the original agreed-upon deal, and does not address the debt ceiling. The Senate finally took it up after passing other measures – some that had been in the original version – passing them as stand-alone items.
Defense Bill
Meanwhile, the Senate on Wednesday had followed the House in passing the DoD authorization bill, which contains several mostly routine new or extended special personnel policies at the department, and which notably does not include language to put into law a ban against a future excepted service Schedule F for positions related to policy matters that currently are in the competitive service. A last-minute bid by Democrats to have the Senate endorse a ban through a shortcut procedure was blocked by a Republican objection.
GPO and WEP
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer meanwhile had promised to call to a vote a bill to repeal the GPO and WEP that easily passed the House in November. Those provisions affect those retired or who will retire under the CSRS system. The first reduces and often eliminates a spousal or survivor benefit based on a spouse’s Social Security covered employment, while the latter reduces Social Security benefits earned before, after, or on the side during a CSRS-covered federal career. That bill was passed just after midnight, before the Senate taking up the funding legislation.
While there were enough Senate co-sponsors to guarantee passage even over a threatened filibuster, Senate rules allowed for delaying tactics by opponents, which threatened the years-long effort for GPO and WEP repeal this year. That would have required restarting the process in January. Just prior to voting to approve a CR the Senate voted 73 – 20 in favor of repealing the GPO and WEP. Many public service retirees will see their fixed incomes increasing in the new year.
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, which has championed the cause for years, was quick to thank key lawmakers finally getting it done. “Since its inception, NARFE has opposed the WEP and GPO as unfairly punishing hardworking public servants through reduced Social Security benefits,” said NARFE National President William “Bill” Shackelford.
“Thank you to Senate leadership, especially Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, and Susan Collins, R-ME, for staying on top of this fight, with Sen. Brown hosting town hall meetings with his constituents over the last 12 months to amplify the voices of public servants. And we sincerely appreciate Senate Majority Leader Schumer’s decision to listen to the voices in his caucus, the Senate and around the country, and bring this bill to the Senate floor. Thank you to our support in the House for getting us here this year, with Reps. Garret Graves, R-LA, and Abigail Spanberger, D-VA, building support in the House and filing a discharge petition to force a vote.”
During the House floor debate last month, backers argued that repeal is long overdue and noted that the bill had the largest number of co-sponsors of any measure in the House.
The WEP reduction, up to about $600 a month currently, is not as severe for those with at least 20 years of Social Security-covered earnings above an annual threshold (this year, $31,275) and is eliminated for those with 30 or more such years.
The GPO reduces Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by $2 for each $3 the beneficiary receives in an annuity from a retirement system that does not include Social Security. In many cases, the effect of the GPO is to eliminate a spousal or survivor Social Security benefit through a spouse’s Social Security-covered employment.
Several House members who spoke in opposition cited the recent CBO cost estimate showing that repeal would increase Social Security spending by $196 billion over 10 years. Several pushed for a bill that had been quickly scheduled as an alternative, HR-5342, which would have set a less punitive formula for the WEP and would not have addressed the GPO at all; that bill failed on a 175-225 vote.
The CBO estimate also said that enactment of the bill would advance by about six months the exhaustion of the Social Security trust fund, currently projected to occur in about 10 years, after which its ongoing income would cover only about 80 percent of currently projected benefits, leaving political leaders the choice of benefit cuts and/or payroll tax increases.
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See also,
TSP Takes Step toward Upcoming In-Plan Roth Conversions
5 Steps to Protect Your Federal Job During the Shutdown
Over 30K TSP Accounts Have Crossed the Million Mark in 2025
