Retirees who go back to work could stop losing chunks of their Social Security check under a bill moving through Congress right now.

Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Greg Murphy introduced the Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act this spring to repeal the Social Security earnings test, the rule that docks benefits from people who claim early and keep working.

“American seniors’ ability to earn income and enjoy the dignity of work should not be penalized by arbitrary parameters to receive Social Security benefits.” Rep. Greg Murphy, in a statement introducing the bill.

What the earnings limit actually does right now

Right now, anyone who claims Social Security before reaching full retirement age and keeps working has to watch a ceiling. In 2026, that limit is $24,480 a year. Earn more than that, and the Social Security Administration withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 over the line. The year someone reaches full retirement age, the limit jumps to $65,160, with a softer $1-for-$3 withholding rate.

Once someone hits full retirement age, the test disappears entirely. They can earn as much as they want with no reduction. The earnings test only hits people who claim early and keep working.

That’s the part Murphy and Scott’s bill targets. Their argument: people who paid into Social Security their whole careers shouldn’t be punished for choosing to keep working after they start collecting.

It’s not free money, it’s a timing fix

Here’s the part that gets lost in a lot of the coverage: withheld benefits under the current rule aren’t gone forever. The Social Security Administration recalculates your benefit later and pays most of it back over time once you hit full retirement age. The earnings test delays money, it doesn’t erase it for most people.

That’s exactly why some Social Security advocates are urging caution. One advocate has warned that repealing the test outright “would represent a major change to Social Security, which requires caution on the part of the Congress.” A Congressional Research Service review has also flagged a real tradeoff: eliminating the test would let more people start claiming benefits earlier, and earlier claiming generally means smaller lifetime payouts, even without the earnings test in play.

Why this keeps coming back

This isn’t a new idea. A different version of the same fix, also called the Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act, passed back in 2000 and removed the earnings test for people at or above full retirement age, which is why that group faces no limit today. What’s on the table now would extend that same logic to people who claim early.

The push is landing at a moment when more older Americans are working past traditional retirement age anyway, whether by choice or necessity, and the earnings test increasingly looks like a relic built for a workforce that doesn’t match how people actually retire now. It’s also landing alongside other federal crackdowns and policy moves reshaping how the government handles benefit programs this year.

What happens next

The bill still has to clear committee, a floor vote in both chambers, and a signature before any of this changes. For now, the 2026 earnings limits ($24,480 and $65,160) are still in effect, and anyone claiming early and working past those thresholds will still see benefits withheld under current law.

For more on policy fights shaping retirement and government benefits, follow our Politics section.