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Social Security: Full List of Republicans Who Voted for Major Change [1]

['Rachel Dobkin', 'Newsweek Staff', 'William J. Barber', 'Ii', 'Leah Greenberg']

Date: 2024-12-21 11:21:24-05:00

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.

What's New

Only three Republicans voted to pass a failed amendment to a new Social Security bill pushed by Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, that would've gradually raised the retirement age in order to receive benefits to 70.

Why It Matters

The current retirement age for full Social Security benefits is 66 to 67, depending on your birth year. However, you can start receiving some benefits as early as 62 years old. There are currently nearly 56 million Americans aged 65 or older who receive Social Security.

While Americans have been paying into the system for years, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is scheduled to run out of money for full payments as early as 2035.

Social Security is a dicey issue on Capitol Hill as lawmakers want to solve the federal program's insolvency crisis but don't want to upset their constituents who benefit from it.

What To Know

The House passed a bill called the Social Security Fairness Act 327-75 in November, which eliminated two provisions, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), that limit Social Security benefits for people who receive pensions from government and public service jobs.

After the bill made its way to the upper chamber, Paul proposed an amendment that would've gradually raised the Social Security retirement age to 70 to offset the cost of the Social Security Fairness Act.

Paul, who opposed the bipartisan bill for Social Security reform, told The Hill that it "speeds the bankruptcy of Social Security. Social Security is due to go bankrupt in 2034. This will speed it up by a year or so. It's $200 billion added to a program that is already short of money."

The amendment failed on Friday night in a 93-3 vote. The only GOP senators to support the amendment were:

Rand Paul of Kentucky

Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming

Mike Lee of Utah

When reached for comment by Newsweek on Saturday morning, Paul's office referred to their press release on the amendment, which included a statement from the senator that read, "It is absurd to entertain a proposal that would make Social Security both less fair and financially weaker. To undo the damage made by this legislation, my amendment to gradually raise the retirement age to reflect current life expectancies will strengthen Social Security by providing almost $400 billion in savings."

Newsweek also reached out to Lummis' office via email and Lee's office via telephone outside of business hours for comment Saturday morning.

The Social Security Fairness Act passed the Senate early Saturday without the amendment. In total, 49 Democrats and 27 Republicans voted for the bill while 20 Republicans, including Paul, voted against it.

What People Are Saying

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said after the Social Security Fairness Act was passed, "Millions of retired teachers and firefighters and letter carriers and state and local workers have waited decades for this moment. No longer will public retirees see their hard-earned Social Security benefits robbed from them."

Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who voted against the bill, said, "We caved to the pressure of the moment instead of doing this on a sustainable basis."

What Happens Next

The bill is headed to President Joe Biden's desk where he is expected to sign it into law.

Update 12/21/24, 12:05 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Paul.

Correction 12/22/24, 4:30 p.m. ET: This article was updated to reflect that current Social Security recipients 65 years or old are nearly 56 million instead of thousand.

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[1] Url: https://www.newsweek.com/social-security-fairness-act-amendment-rand-paul-2004598

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