Retirees impacted by WEP and GPO to receive retroactive payments sooner than expected

Drew Friedman

Federal News Network

February 25, 2025

Social Security beneficiaries impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset may begin receiving their one-time retroactive payments as soon as this week.

The Social Security Administration has significantly shortened its timeline to start distributing benefit payments to public sector workers whose Social Security benefits have been impacted by WEP and GPO. SSA said it began distributing the one-time retroactive payments this week, and most payments will process incrementally over the next month.

The agency said in a press release Tuesday that most beneficiaries should receive their one-time retroactive payments by the end of March. The retroactive payments are backdated to January 2024.

SSA said it’s able to expedite the timeline for the payments by “using automation,” but added that retirees with “complex cases” will have to wait longer before receiving their retroactive payments. The complex cases cannot process automatically, and require additional time for agency staff to update the records manually to reflect the new benefit amount, SSA said.

Regardless, SSA urged retirees to wait until at least April before asking the agency about the status of their payments, since many won’t see the changes reflected in their payments until sometime in March.

SSA had previously estimated that it would take more than a year to begin issuing retroactive payments to impacted beneficiaries. At the time, the agency said budget limitations and staffing constraints would delay the agency’s ability to begin processing payments right away.

“Social Security’s aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President Trump’s priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible,” SSA Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said in a press statement Tuesday. “The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible.”

SSA did not immediately respond to Federal News Network’s request for comment on how it plans to address the previously stated challenges with funding and staffing.

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association quickly expressed support for SSA’s plans to expedite the payment timeline.

“SSA’s announcement that they will begin paying benefits to those impacted by WEP and GPO this week is music to our ears,” John Hatton, NARFE’s staff vice president of policy and programs, told Federal News Network. “This is much quicker than previously forecasted, and will have an immediate, positive impact on those who have waiting decades for this relief.”

The higher payments for impacted beneficiaries come as a result of the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act. The legislation repealed both WEP and GPO. The two longstanding provisions of Social Security reduce or eliminate benefit payments for certain public sector employees and retirees — including federal annuitants in the Civil Service Retirement System — as well as their surviving spouses. Individuals impacted by WEP and GPO also include many teachers, firefighters and police officers.

Specifically, WEP reduces benefits for annuitants who worked in both a public sector position not covered by Social Security, as well as a job that’s covered by Social Security, usually in the private sector. GPO reduces Social Security for surviving spouses who also worked in the public sector. The two-thirds reduction by GPO often results in a full elimination of the benefit.

In total, WEP and GPO impact Social Security payments for roughly 3 million public sector employees, retirees, spouses and surviving spouses. Former President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law on Jan. 5 to eliminate the two provisions.

Individuals who are impacted by WEP and GPO can find more details about the implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act on SSA’s website.