President Biden on Sunday signed legislation expanding Social Security benefits for millions of retired Americans, including firefighters, police officers and teachers.
The Social Security Fairness Act eliminates two federal policies that barred employees with a public pension from collecting their full benefits under the federal retirement program and that reduced benefits for those workers' surviving spouses and family members.
"Biden is the first president in more than 20 years to expand Social Security benefits," a White House spokesperson said in a statement.
The Social Security Fairness Act had bipartisan support, yet faced last-minute objections from some Republicans due to its cost.
Specifically, the new Social Security law repeals policies known as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which together act to reduce Social Security payments to 2.5 million retirees.
"The law that existed denied millions of Americans access to the full Social Security benefits they earned," Mr. Biden said after signing the bill into law.
In an update Monday, the Social Security Administration said it is evaluating how to implement the act. »
