H.R. 82 · 118th Congress
Social Security Fairness Act of 2023
Rep. Graves, Garret [R-LA-6] (R-LA) · Introduced · 330 cosponsors
Latest action
Became Public Law No: 118-273.
· from Congress.gov, as of August 8, 2026
Committees
What this stage means
The bill is now law — by the President's signature, by the ten-day rule when the President declines to sign, or by a two-thirds veto override.
Why this matters
There are three constitutional paths to enactment, and only one of them requires the President's approval.
What can happen next
Executive agencies write regulations to implement it; courts may review challenges to it.
Study this bill
AP GovThe constitutional question
Nothing constitutional blocked this bill for twenty years — procedure did. The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset reduced Social Security for ~2.8 million public retirees; repeal bills drew 300+ cosponsors every Congress and never got a floor vote until a discharge petition — 218 signatures overriding leadership's agenda control — forced one.
The strongest case for
Teachers, firefighters, and police who split careers between covered and non-covered employment paid Social Security taxes like everyone else, then watched WEP claw back benefits through a formula so crude it over-penalized precisely the lower-income public servants it was never aimed at. GPO could zero out a widow's survivor benefits because she taught school. Forty years of 'fix it properly someday' produced nothing; repeal was the only vehicle that could actually pass, and 76 senators and 327 representatives agreed. When a supermajority of both parties' members cosponsors a bill Congress after Congress while leadership buries it, the discharge petition exists for exactly that failure.
The strongest case against
WEP existed because Social Security's progressive formula mistakes a public pensioner's small covered-earnings record for a poverty-level career, paying them the subsidy meant for genuinely low earners — full repeal doesn't fix an injustice, it creates one, handing workers with substantial government pensions a windfall other retirees subsidize. The Congressional Budget Office priced repeal near $196 billion over ten years, accelerating the trust fund's insolvency by months, financed by every future beneficiary. A targeted proportional formula was drafted and scored; Congress chose the politically easy total repeal in a lame-duck session. This is Federalist No. 10's warning inverted: the organized faction won, and the diffuse majority pays.
Foundational documents in play
- Federalist No. 10
A century-spanning campaign by organized factions — public-employee unions — overcoming diffuse opposition is Madison's essay running in production.
- U.S. Constitution
The spending power funds Social Security; House procedure (the discharge petition) decided whether repeal ever got a vote.
Organizations supporting
Organizations opposing
This has happened before
WEP/GPO repeal bills were introduced in every Congress from the early 2000s onward, routinely gathering 300+ cosponsors and zero floor votes — the textbook gap between position-taking and lawmaking. The 118th's discharge petition (September 2024) hit 218 signatures, forcing the November vote; it became Public Law 118-273 on January 5, 2025. Discharge petitions almost never succeed — this was the first to produce a major law in years, which is exactly why it's worth studying.
Practice FRQ
Concept Application. "A bill eliminating two Social Security benefit-reduction formulas gathered over 300 cosponsors in successive Congresses without receiving a floor vote, until members used a discharge petition to force one; it then passed 327–75 and 76–20." (A) Describe the discharge petition. (B) Explain why a bill with majority support in the chamber can still fail to receive a vote. (C) Explain how interest groups influenced both the bill's persistence and its ultimate passage.
Sources: www.congress.gov · www.crfb.org
Action history
Every recorded action from Congress.gov — 40 total.
Signed by President.
Signed by President.
Became Public Law No: 118-273.
Became Public Law No: 118-273.
Presented to President.
House
Presented to President.
Senate
Point of order that the measure violates section 311(a)(3) of the Congressional Budget Act raised in Senate.
Senate
Motion to waive all applicable budgetary discipline with respect to the measure agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 66 - 30. Record Vote Number: 337.
Senate
Motion by Senator Schumer to commit to Senate Committee on Finance with instructions to report back forthwith with the following amendment (SA 3357) withdrawn in Senate.
Senate
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate, under the order of 12/20/2024, having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 76 - 20. Record Vote Number: 338.
Senate
Passed Senate, under the order of 12/20/2024, having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 76 - 20. Record Vote Number: 338.
Senate
Cloture motion on the measure rendered moot in Senate.
Senate
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Senate
Considered by Senate. (consideration: CR S7285-7287, S7303-7304)
Senate
Cloture motion on the measure presented in Senate. (CR S7286)
Senate
Motion by Senator Schumer to commit to Senate Committee on Finance with instructions to report back forthwith with the following amendment (SA 3357) made in Senate.
Senate
Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (CR S7217)
Senate
Motion to proceed to consideration of measure agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 73 - 23. Record Vote Number: 328.
Senate
Measure laid before Senate by motion.
Senate
Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (CR S7131)
Senate
Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 73 - 27. Record Vote Number: 326.
House
Referred to the Subcommittee on Social Security.
Senate
Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (CR S6980)
Senate
Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S6980)
Senate
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 693.
Senate
Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
Senate
Received in the Senate.
House
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST - Mr. Harris asked unanimous consent that the order of the House on November 5, 2024, with respect to H.R. 82 be vacated. Agreed to without objection.
House
Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
House
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5925-5931)
House
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 82.
House
At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
House
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H5944-5945)
House
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 327 - 75, 1 Present (Roll no. 456). (text: CR H5925)
House
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 327 - 75, 1 Present (Roll no. 456). (text: CR H5925)
House
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
House
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST - The Chair recongized Mr. Good (VA) for a unanimous consent request. Mr. Good (VA) asked unanimous consent that H.R. 82 be laid on the table. Without objection the unanimous consent request was agreed to.
House
Introduced in House
House
Introduced in House
House
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.