{"id":41156,"date":"2026-02-13T19:12:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T19:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=41156"},"modified":"2026-02-13T19:12:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T19:12:40","slug":"senators-want-longer-lump-sum-payment-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=41156","title":{"rendered":"Senators want longer lump-sum payment timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div id=\"RegularArticle-ArticleBody-5\" data-module=\"ArticleBody\" data-test=\"articleBody-2\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-articleBody-5-2\"><span class=\"HighlightShare-hidden\" style=\"top:0;left:0\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108036713\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<p>Cavan Images | Cavan | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>At the start of 2025, during President Joe Biden\u2019s final weeks in office, lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/house-bill\/82\" target=\"_blank\">pushed forward<\/a> with last-minute major legislation that provides Social Security benefit increases to certain public pensioners.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/11\/social-security-fairness-act-taxes.html\">Social Security Fairness Act<\/a> was passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority in both the House and Senate, and Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/01\/05\/biden-signs-social-security-bill-to-increase-benefits-for-millions-of-public-workers.html\">signed it into law<\/a> on Jan. 5, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Now, several senators are calling on the Social Security Administration to reconsider what they say is a flaw in the law\u2019s implementation: retroactive payments limited to six months rather than one year for certain beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>The Social Security Fairness Act eliminated two provisions \u2014 the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, and the Government Pension Offset, or GPO \u2014 that reduced or, in some cases, eliminated Social Security benefits for individuals who receive pension income from jobs where Social Security payroll taxes were not paid. However, those individuals also have other income from jobs that paid into the program, which made them eligible for benefits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-relatedContent\" id=\"RegularArticle-RelatedContent-1\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-container\">\n<div class=\"RelatedContent-nonCollapsibleContent\">\n<h2 id=\"read-more-cnbc-personal-finance-coverage\" class=\"RelatedContent-header\">Read more CNBC personal finance coverage<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/13\/social-security-fairness-act-lump-sum-payment-timeline.html\">Senators call for longer Social Security Fairness Act lump-sum payment timeline<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/13\/heres-the-inflation-breakdown-for-january-2026-in-one-chart.html\">Here\u2019s the inflation breakdown for January 2026 \u2014 in one chart<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/13\/average-tax-refund.html\">Average tax refund is up 22%, Bessent says \u2014 what filers can expect this season<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/13\/k-shaped-economy-middle-class-spending.html\">K-shaped economy looks like \u2018jaws of a crocodile,\u2019 economist says: Here\u2019s why<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/12\/epa-endangerment-finding-repeal.html\">How EPA \u2018endangerment finding\u2019 repeal could impact your wallet<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/12\/medical-debt-bankruptcy.html\">Medical emergencies can lead to debt and bankruptcy \u2014 even for insured Americans<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/12\/tax-return-audit-key-tax-forms.html\">Bigger tax refunds may be coming \u2014 but missing key forms could risk an audit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/11\/social-security-fairness-act-taxes.html\">How Social Security Fairness Act payments may affect beneficiaries\u2019 taxes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/10\/new-york-fed-credit-card-debt-tops-1point28-trillion.html\">Credit card debt tops $1.28 trillion, consistent with \u2018K-shaped\u2019 economy: NY Fed<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/10\/affordability-led-to-a-chasm-between-stock-prices-consumer-optimism.html\">How affordability led to a chasm between stock prices, consumer optimism<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/09\/cfpb-student-loan-complaints.html\">Student loan complaints at record high, CFPB finds, but agency omits details<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/09\/trump-accounts-sign-up-form.html\">Following Super Bowl ad, Trump accounts launch a new sign-up option<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/09\/pslf-public-service-loan-forgiveness-buyback-backlog.html\">Some student loan borrowers wait over a year for public servant debt forgiveness<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/08\/trump-big-beautiful-bill-college-education.html\">Trump\u2019s \u2018big beautiful bill\u2019 may spur the rise of \u2018un-college,\u2019 experts say<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/07\/401k-mullet-quarter-zip-economy.html\">First the quarter zip, now a \u2018401(k) mullet\u2019 \u2014 what trends say about the economy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/06\/trump-child-tax-credit.html\">How Trump\u2019s child tax credit changes could impact your refund this season<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/10\/01\/best-financial-advisors.html\">CNBC\u2019s Financial Advisor 100: Best financial advisors, top firms ranked<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>The law affects more than 2.8 million people, according to the Social Security Administration, including teachers, firefighters and police officers in certain states. Relatives of affected workers \u2014 specifically spouses and surviving spouses \u2014 also received adjusted benefits under the provisions.<\/p>\n<p>The adjustments include new, higher monthly benefit payments, as well as a retroactive lump-sum payment for benefits paid from January 2024 onward. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"some-beneficiaries-lump-sum-payments-are-smaller\" class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\"><a id=\"headline0\"\/>Some beneficiaries\u2019 lump-sum payments are smaller<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Yet while the law provides for one-year retroactive payments, some beneficiaries have only received payments for six months, based on the Social Security Administration\u2019s interpretation of the law, several senators wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cassidy.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/cassidy-urges-social-security-administration-to-honor-full-retroactive-payments-for-social-security-fairness-act-benefits\" target=\"_blank\">Feb. 5 letter<\/a> to the agency. Bill Cassidy, R-La., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and John Fetterman, D-Pa., signed the letter.<\/p>\n<p>The senators had previously sent a letter to the SSA\u00a0in\u00a0April 2025\u00a0expressing concerns about retroactive spousal benefits under the new law. <\/p>\n<p>In its response to the lawmakers, their letter states, the Social Security Administration said the six-month limitation for new applicants was because the new law did not amend certain wording of the Social Security Act that established the program in 1935. <\/p>\n<p>Consequently, the one-year retroactive benefits could be applied only to individuals who were already receiving benefits as of January 2024 or who had filed a benefit application on or before that date, according to the agency.<\/p>\n<p>The Social Security Administration did not provide a comment by press time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"Placeholder-ArticleBody-Video-108258430\">\n<div role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" id=\"Placeholder-ArticleBody-Video-108258430\" class=\"PlaceHolder-wrapper\" data-vilynx-id=\"7000402165\" data-test=\"VideoPlaceHolder\">\n<div class=\"InlineVideo-videoEmbed\" id=\"InlineVideo-0\" data-test=\"InlineVideo\">\n<div class=\"InlineVideo-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineVideo-inlineThumbnailContainer\"><span class=\"InlineVideo-videoButton\"\/><span\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>\u201cWe do not fault SSA for not having a crystal ball,\u201d Sens. Cassidy, Cornyn and Fetterman wrote in their Feb. 5 letter.<\/p>\n<p>Because Congress did not know if or when the Social Security Fairness Act would pass, it \u201cdid not distinguish between new and current beneficiaries in setting the Act\u2019s effective date,\u201d the senators wrote. Likewise, the agency could not have predicted the changes that were enacted, they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The Social Security Administration should follow the \u201cplain text\u201d of the Social Security Fairness Act and provide a one-year retroactive date, starting from January 2024, for all applicants, regardless of their benefit application date, Sens. Cassidy, Cornyn and Fetterman wrote. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said, \u201cthe law that was passed is absolutely clear \u2026 The law says it\u2019s 12 months.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The National Committee, an advocacy organization, lobbied for the changes in the Social Security Fairness Act for decades, said Richtman, who attended Biden\u2019s signing of the law.<\/p>\n<p>Following the law\u2019s implementation, millions of Social Security beneficiaries have seen their payments increase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest difference has been for public servants who didn\u2019t earn as much,\u201d including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, sheriff deputies and policy officers, Cassidy said in an email statement. \u201cRestoring their benefits restored their ability to live securely in retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/13\/social-security-fairness-act-lump-sum-payment-timeline.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cavan Images | Cavan | Getty Images At the start of 2025, during President Joe Biden\u2019s final weeks&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-investing","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}