Members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus orchestrated an unusual play on the floor of the House of Representatives during a rare election night, 5 p.m. pro forma session that resulted in the killing, at least for now, of a broadly popular bill that was about to pass was supposed to be on the table as soon as next week.

Reps. Garret Graves, R-La., and Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., had successfully collected the 218 signatures needed for a discharge petition to bypass GOP leaders and advance bipartisan legislation that would repeal two longstanding provisions would revoke those Social Security benefits for certain retirees. They were expected to take action as early as Tuesday evening, initiating a two-day clock to bring up the special rule for immediate consideration of the bill.

With 330 cosponsors, including current Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who was one of the first to add his name at the start of the 118th Congress, the measure’s passage was all but guaranteed. GOP leaders considered simply bringing it up next week under a suspension of the rules, which would skip a vote on the rule but require two-thirds of the members present and scheduled to vote to vote.

Then the Freedom Caucus, which opposes the measure’s $196 billion cost over a decade, intervened.

What happened: Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., a somewhat local member of the Eastern Shore, chaired the pro forma session, which lasted seven minutes.

During the brief session, he recognized outgoing Rep. Bob Good, R-Va. – the former chairman of the Freedom Caucus who lost his primary – for a unanimous consent request. Good’s request to table the Social Security bill was granted unanimously, without anyone else in the room objecting.

The effect of bringing the bill to the table in this context, according to House rules, has the same effect as rejecting a bill on the floor; for now it is dead. Since the discharge request was actually submitted for consideration based on the rule and not on the bill itself, the rule could still be called for a vote under discharge proceedings, which, if passed, would take the bill off the table and allow a vote.

Alternatively, a brand new, identical bill could simply be introduced – as early as next Friday’s pro forma session – and that measure could be voted on as early as next week under suspension of the rules.

So it is by no means a permanent hold on the social security law, but the way in which the maneuver took place is striking.

Harris’ move to recognize Good goes against the Speaker’s “stated policy” in exercising powers under House rules, which provide that such UC requests can only be made after receiving assurances that the majority – and minority leadership of both the House of Representatives and the relevant committees have no rights. objection.

Before Harris recognized Good, House Speaker Jason Smith could be heard on the microphone saying, “The Speaker will not grant the gentleman’s request. The chairman cannot grant the gentleman’s request.”

Harris and the lawmaker appear to have had words after the House of Representatives adjourned, according to congressional litigation expert Kacper Surdy — known as “ringwiss” on the social platform X — who posted an account of the exchange on his X account.

Sturdy price tag

Even if the bill ultimately passes the House of Representatives, its price tag and limited time remaining in the session make it an uphill climb to clear the Senate, even if it has more than enough support in that chamber to pass a filibuster to overcome.

The legislation would repeal the “windfall elimination provision” and “public pension offset,” which reduce Social Security benefits for those who spent part of their careers in state and local government or in other positions where their earnings were not subject to Social Security taxes.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would cost $196 billion over 10 years and push back the date of depletion of Social Security trust funds by six months. The bill’s proponents argue that six months isn’t all that significant, since Congress would have to act sometime around 2034, and that even the advertised price tag is misleading.

Instead of taxpayer dollars being wasted, the costs represent money that “will be deducted from the hard-earned monthly Social Security checks of retired law enforcement officers, teachers, nurses and bus drivers over the next decade,” according to the National Association of Police. Organizations that lobbied for the measure.

Graves, the main sponsor of the Republican Party, is leaving Congress after redistricting turned his district into one that heavily favors Democrats. Spanberger wants to run for governor of Virginia.

In a statement after the floor action Tuesday, Graves dismissed the Freedom Caucus’ move as a pointless stunt. “Now that this new precedent has been set, I plan to look for UC to send every American a pony,” he said.