Constitutional Opinion No. 2026-0680
Case Information
- Source
- U.S. Congress (govinfo.gov)
- Author
- Reps. Graves (LA), Spanberger, Comer, Garamendi, Letlow, Takano, Diaz-Balart, Brownley
- Publication Date
- 2023-01-09
- Content Type
- Legislation
- Opinion Issued
- 2026-07-19
- AFCS Version
- 1.0
Holding
H.R. 82 repeals the Government Pension Offset (Section 2) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (Section 3), which had reduced Social Security benefits for individuals also receiving non-covered government pensions (teachers, firefighters, police, federal employees). Scored as operative statutory text under the v1.2 Legal/Normative Text Weighting (85/15). Genuinely mixed: its fiscal effect materially increases Social Security outlays and accelerates trust-fund insolvency — a real Honest Money tension (Article X = 35). But unlike creating a new entitlement, it restores benefits to workers who paid into Social Security, an earned-benefit / citizen-as-principal consideration that resonates at roughly neutral with Article II (52) and Article IX (50); the same repeal also grows a collective entitlement, so those are two-edged rather than clear positives. No Article affirmatively rewards benefit expansion, and the Court declines to manufacture one. Tier 1 = 47; Final 53 — Mixed, modestly above the pure obesity-coverage expansion (0669, 45) because restoring reduced earned benefits is more defensible than funding new coverage. A benefit increase is not a new tax, so no Automatic Fail. (Default 70/30 would have returned 60.)
It is the judgment of this Court that Opinion No. 2026-0680 is hereby entered into the record, in accordance with the America First Constitutional Standard. The score stands. The reasoning is published. The record is public.