The U.S. House of Representatives Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) and former Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) held a “pro forma” session to effectively kill the Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82. 

NAPO member organizations have until 12 p.m. today, Nov. 7, 2024 to sign a letter from NAPO to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling on him to bring up H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, as soon as it passes the House. Please email NAPO Director of Governmental Affairs Andrea Edmiston at aedmiston@napo.org or call her at (703) 667-0400 to sign the letter.

NAPO is also asking members to reach out to Members of Congress encouraging them to vote yes on H.R. 82 next week. 

Below is the email sent to members from Edmiston with further details: 

Dear NAPO Members,

On Election Day, during a “pro forma” session in the House of Representative, while no one else was present, and while the nation was focused on the elections, Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD), who was temporarily “presiding” over the session, recognized former Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) (the only other member present) for a unanimous consent request to lay H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, on the table, essentially defeating the bill for the time being.  During this act, the House parliamentarian was audibly telling Rep. Harris that he cannot accept Rep. Good’s motion and yet they continued with their devious maneuver. These two members of congress, acting alone and against long-standing House policies, attempted to thwart our efforts to restore the retirement security of millions of public servants simply because they do not like the bill – a bill that 330 of their fellow lawmakers support and have cosponsored. The arrogance of this sneaky move is astonishing, even by Capitol Hill standards.

House leadership has a strong incentive to fix this or there will be other lawmakers who decide to go rouge during pro forma sessions for their own political interests.

NAPO has been engaged since Reps. Harris and Good made this move at 5 p.m. on Election Day. Our discharge petition was on the rule for consideration of H.R. 82 and not the bill itself, so Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA) and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), the bill’s sponsors, can still call the rule up for a vote, which, if adopted, would allow for consideration of the bill. This is just one avenue to get around the actions of Representatives Harris and Good. Another way that House leadership is considering is allowing Graves and Spanberger to introduce an identical bill and allow that to be used in place of H.R. 82 and continue to honor the discharge petition. House leadership also has some parliamentary moves it could take. Discussions are ongoing about which path will be the easiest and most successful and we will hopefully know more tomorrow afternoon.

We are supporting every effort to bring the bill to the floor and are confident that next week we will have a successful vote on H.R. 82 in the House. We will continue to keep you updated on the status of H.R. 82.  In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Please continue to reach out to your Members of Congress and urge them to vote yes on H.R. 82 next week.

You can read the latest update on H.R. 82 here.