WEP and GPO Repeal 2025: Everything Federal Employees Need to Know

What Was Repealed

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, permanently eliminated two provisions from federal law:

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduced the Social Security retirement benefit of anyone who also received a pension from employment not covered by Social Security. It worked by replacing the standard 90% factor in the first bend point of the Primary Insurance Amount formula with a lower percentage — as low as 40% for workers with fewer than 20 years of "substantial" covered earnings. The result: hundreds of dollars per month stripped from Social Security checks.

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduced Social Security spousal and survivor benefits by two-thirds of the recipient's non-covered government pension. A retiree with a $3,000 CSRS pension faced a $2,000 GPO reduction — often eliminating their spousal benefit entirely, even when their spouse had paid into Social Security for an entire career.

Both provisions are eliminated for all benefits payable January 2024 and later. The repeal is retroactive to that date, which means anyone who received reduced payments between January 2024 and the repeal date was owed back pay.

Retroactive Payments: Timeline and Amounts

SSA began automated recalculations in February 2025 and completed the process for all 3.1 million affected beneficiaries by July 7, 2025 — five months ahead of schedule.

The total retroactive payout was approximately $17 billion, with an average lump sum of $6,710 per beneficiary. Individual amounts varied widely depending on how much WEP or GPO had been reducing each person's benefit and how many months fell between January 2024 and the recalculation date.

Retroactive payments were deposited directly into the same bank account receiving regular Social Security deposits. SSA sent two notices to each affected beneficiary: one confirming the removal of WEP or GPO from their record, and a second detailing the new monthly benefit amount and retroactive payment calculation.

Does the Repeal Affect FERS Employees?

For career FERS employees — those who spent their entire federal career under FERS — the repeal changes nothing about their Social Security benefits. FERS is a covered system. Social Security taxes were withheld on FERS wages, so WEP and GPO never applied to benefits earned through FERS service.

The repeal matters for FERS employees in two specific situations:

Previous non-covered employment. If you worked for a state or local government that didn't participate in Social Security (certain public school systems, police departments, or state agencies) and earned a pension from that job, WEP may have reduced the Social Security benefit you earned through your FERS and private-sector employment. That reduction is now gone.

Married to a CSRS retiree. If your spouse retired under CSRS and you were applying for Social Security spousal benefits on your own record, GPO could have reduced your benefit if you also received a non-covered pension from your own employment. With GPO repealed, this no longer applies.

For CSRS employees and retirees, the repeal is directly significant. Their Social Security benefits — both their own retirement benefits and any spousal or survivor benefits — are now calculated without WEP or GPO reductions.

What to Verify on Your Record

Even though SSA's automated recalculations are complete, you should confirm:

Your my Social Security statement. Log in at ssa.gov/myaccount and check that your benefit estimate reflects the standard PIA formula — 90% of the first bend point, 32% of the second, 15% above that. If your statement references a WEP adjustment or non-covered pension factor, the system flag may not have been fully cleared.

Your retroactive payment amount. Calculate the monthly difference between your old (WEP/GPO-reduced) payment and your new (full) payment. Multiply by the number of months from January 2024 through your recalculation date. Compare against the lump sum you received. If the numbers don't match, file Form SSA-561 within 60 days of the adjustment notice.

Your spouse's benefit. If your spouse was receiving a spousal or survivor benefit that was reduced by GPO, confirm their benefit has also been adjusted. The GPO recalculation was part of the same automated process, but spousal records sometimes require manual review.

What Was NOT Repealed

The CSRS Offset pension reduction administered by OPM remains in effect. This is a pension reduction, not a Social Security reduction, and it wasn't part of the Social Security Fairness Act. CSRS Offset retirees still see their annuity reduced at age 62.

State pension systems' own plan-level offsets also remain. Some state plans (like Illinois SERS coordinated-member offsets) reduce state pensions when Social Security benefits begin. These are plan provisions unrelated to the federal WEP and GPO.

The Social Security for Federal Employees guide covers the full post-repeal verification sequence — from confirming WEP flag removal on your PIA to validating retroactive payment math and coordinating your adjusted Social Security benefit with OPM's pension calculations.

See more United States guides →