Name: Biden Signs Law to Increase Social Security Benefits for Millions
Uploaded: 2025-01-06T13:16:10.000Z
Description: President Joe Biden on Jan. 5 signed into law a bill that would increase Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have worked in eligible public service fields.

Sean Marshall is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, primarily covering business and technology trends. 

Sean Marshall

NTD Plus

News

News with integrity, from the U.S. and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

PenFed Foundation: Empowering Veteran Entrepreneurs

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

Ebola Screening in Place at Atlanta Airport

Tom Gantert is a reporter for The Epoch Times.

Tom Gantert

World News

International

Rubio Calls India Key US Partner

Daniel Monaghan is a reporter for NTD News covering culture, social issues, and education. He holds a BA in Political Science and Government.

Daniel Monaghan

White House Week in Review (May 23): Castro Charges, Iran Strike Pause, TrumpRx Expansion

Rachel Acenas is an experienced journalist and TV news reporter and anchor covering breaking stories and contributing original news content for NTD's digital team.

Rachel Acenas

US News

Hegseth to West Point Cadets: ‘We’re Sending You, Perhaps, to War’

Dave Martin is NTD's Senior Sports Reporter and sports analyst. He also hosts "Data Hub" segments during NTD's special election coverage, "The Nation Decides."

Dave Martin

Cavaliers Need Win to Avoid 0–3 Deficit vs. Knicks

Troy Myers is a regional reporter based in St. Augustine, Florida. His background includes breaking, criminal justice, and investigative writing for local news, producing on a national morning newscast in Washington, D.C., and working with an award-winning, weekly investigative news program. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his dog at the beach.

Troy Myers

State News

District of Columbia

Shots Fired Outside White House, Suspect Dead: Secret Service

Middle East

Iran

Trump Says Iran Agreement ‘Largely Negotiated’

David Lam is a national correspondent based in California and a part-time anchor for "NTD Tonight." Before joining NTD he was a financial analyst.

David Lam

Child Safety Groups Urge FTC to Investigate Roblox

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

‘Tiffany Meier Tonight’ Premieres May 26, 8PM ET

Chris Beers is an NTD News anchor and political correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Chris co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Chris Beers

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 24)

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 23)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 22)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 21)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 20)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 19)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 18)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 17)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 16)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 15)

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

California

More Than 17,000 Under Evacuation Orders as Southern California Wildfire Threatens Homes

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Government Sues Chick-fil-A Over Religious Rights

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

Haika Mrema

Medical Plane Crash in New Mexico Mountains Kills 4, Sparks Wildfire

Rudy Blalock is a Southern California-based daily news reporter for NTD. Originally from Michigan, he moved to California in 2017 and the sunshine and ocean have kept him here since. In his free time, he may be found underwater scuba diving, on top of a mountain hiking or snowboarding, or at home meditating—which helps fuel his active lifestyle.

Rudy Blalock

Sports News

Kyle Busch, Two-Time NASCAR Champion, Dies at 41

India Responds to Trump’s Repost of Birthright Citizenship Comment

Trump Withdraws National Park Service Nominee

President Joe Biden on Jan. 5 signed into law a bill that would increase Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have worked in eligible public service fields.

The bill, dubbed the Social Security Fairness Act, specifically boosts benefits for around 3 million Americans who have worked in public jobs, particularly affecting those who received state and local pensions separate from Social Security.

“By signing this bill, we’re extending Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, nurses and other public employees and their spouses and survivors,” Biden said at the signing of the bill on Jan. 5.

In an email to The Epoch Times, a White House official said Biden’s signing of the legislation made him “the first president in twenty years to expand Social Security benefits.”

The official fit the bill into Biden’s larger commitment to Social Security. Both Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have repeatedly expressed support for Social Security and opposition to substantial revisions that reduce benefits or raise the retirement age.

The legislation passed the House on Nov. 12 with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 327–75 vote. Later, it passed the Senate in a similarly bipartisan 76–20 vote. Even Republicans, who are more hawkish on government spending and Social Security issues, largely supported the bill.

For supporters, the legislation is a long overdue correction to provisions in the law that limited benefits for public servants. It would get rid of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO)—which previously limited the federal pension that public sector employees could receive based on their other income sources from state and other government pensions.

According to the most recent <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10203" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">estimates</a> from the Congressional Research Service, around 2.1 million people have taken benefit cuts from the WEP, while around 746,000 people are affected by the GPO.

On the other hand, repealing these provisions—while broadly supported by a broad cross section of politicians from both parties—is expected to increase the federal government’s Social Security expenditures.

“The elimination of the WEP and GPO … would permanently increase outlays for scheduled Social Security benefits—that is, the amounts that the program would pay if it continued to pay benefits as scheduled under current law, regardless of whether the program’s two trust funds had sufficient balances to cover those payments,” the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2024-11/60876-HR82.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">response</a> to a request from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on how the legislation would impact the federal budget.
<div class="video_fit_container"><iframe class="video_frame" src="https://www.ganjingworld.com/embed/1havf53gk1b19O0DfK1w45vQt1ps1c" width="671" height="377" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
In an earlier analysis in September, the CBO said that it expects the repeal of the WEP would lead to a net benefits increase of $360 by December 2025 for those affected. Repealing the GPO would contribute to around a $700 monthly benefits boost by December 2025.

Some of the expenditures from the bill would also come from its offering back pay from January 2024 onwards.
<div class="my-5">Critics of the bill say it would give an <a class="article-hover-class" href="https://www.ssa.gov/legislation/legis_bulletin_111324.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">unfair financial boost</a> to employees, usually government workers, who were exempt from paying Social Security taxes on their salary in the first place.</div>
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, estimated that the bill would cost about $195 billion over the next decade and speed up the Social Security program’s insolvency.

That raises challenges for the already-strained Social Security Trust Funds, which have been hurtling toward insolvency for over a decade.

The CBO calculated that Social Security is currently set to run out of money sometime around 2033, and that adoption of the Social Security Fairness Act would move that deadline up by around half a year.

The legislation comes as both sides of the political aisle have taken an increasingly favorable view of Social Security, with Trump and his allies vowing repeatedly that they don’t plan on touching either benefits or the retirement age.

That said, the funding is drying up, and fixing the underlying issues with Social Security is likely to become an increasingly urgent priority for legislators over the coming years.

<em>Stacy Robinson contributed to this report.</em>

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/biden-signs-law-to-increase-social-security-benefits-for-millions-5786628">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Latest

Videos

Business News

Politics

04_Top Stories

Premium Picks

Latest Clips

Social Security

Management

Executive Branch

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.