Question: Are the Trump administration’s changes at Social Security going to delay payments for those of us due more now that WEP/GPO is repealed?

Answer: No, on the contrary, according to the agency’s acting commissioner, who said in a news release Tuesday that the Social Security Administration is using automation to speed up payments for people affected by the Social Security Fairness Act. The law was signed Jan. 5 by then-President Joe Biden, repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset on monthly Social Security benefits payable after December 2023. Those provisions reduced or eliminated benefits for some 3 million people nationwide, including about 33,000 to 100,000 in Hawaii, who receive pensions based on work not covered by Social Security.

“Social Security’s aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President Trump’s priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible,” said Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security. “The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible.”

Nationwide, people who will benefit from the new law include some teachers, firefighters and police officers; federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System; and people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system, the news release said.

Because WEP/GPO were repealed as of January 2024, many beneficiaries will receive a retro-active lump-sum payment by the end of March, deposited in their bank account on record with Social Security, it said. Ongoing higher monthly benefits for those who qualify will begin in April, it said.

Social Security will mail notices to those affected, although most will receive the retroactive payment before they receive the letter, the news release said. The agency urged beneficiaries to wait until April to ask about the status of their retroactive payment, since payments will process incrementally in March, and until after they receive their April monthly payment to ask about their new monthly benefit amount.

“Social Security is expediting payments using automation and will continue to handle many complex cases that must be done manually, on an individual case-by-case basis. Those complex cases will take additional time to update the beneficiary record and pay the correct benefits,” the news release said.

For more information, go to ssa.gov Opens in a new tab and click on “Information about the Social Security Fairness Act (WEP/GPO).”

Also on Tuesday, Dudek announced the closure of SSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity. “SSA will transfer responsibility for processing Equal Employment Opportunity complaints, reasonable accommodation requests, and other statutorily required functions to other SSA components to ensure compliance with existing legal authorities,” a news release said. On Monday, SSA announced the closure of its Office of Transformation. Employees in both offices were put on administrative leave.

Last week SSA announced an “organizational realignment” of its Office of Analytics, Review and Oversight and terminated Retirement and Disability Research Consortium cooperative agreements, no longer funding research addressing diversity, equity and inclusion in Social Security, retirement and disability policy.

Dudek, who became acting commissioner after his predecessor stepped down Sunday rather than grant Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to closely held data about a vast number of Americans, said in news releases that the changes under his watch follow President Trump’s orders to streamline operations, prioritize essential work and reduce fraud, waste and abuse. However, critics contend the rapid overhaul undermines the retirement program on which millions of seniors rely.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.