{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://grijalva.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-grijalva-sen-wyden-introduce-bill-to-protect-social-security-benefits-from-garnishment", "Rep. Grijalva, Sen. Wyden Introduce Bill to Protect Social Security  Benefits from Garnishment", "2026-09-24", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Adelita S. Grijalva", "G000606", "grijalva.house.gov", "grijalva", "https://grijalva.house.gov/media", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Congresswoman Adelita S. Grijalva and Senator Ron Wyden introduced the Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act, legislation to restore protections for Social Security and other earned benefits from garnishment.\n\nThe bill would repeal provisions added in 1996 that allowed the federal government to reduce Social Security benefits to collect delinquent federal non-tax debts, such as student loans. The legislation would restore the protections originally provided under the Social Security Act and extend those protections across Social Security, Railroad Retirement, and Black Lung benefits.\n\n\u201cSocial Security is not a handout \u2014 it is a benefit earned over decades of hard work. Retirees deserve to know that money will be there when they need it,\u201d said Rep. Grijalva. \u201cAt a time when the cost of living continues to rise, seniors living on fixed incomes can\u2019t afford to have their Social Security benefits taken away. I\u2019m proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Wyden to protect these critical benefits that retirees have earned.\u201d\n\n\u201cSocial Security should not be able to garnish benefits that American workers earned over a lifetime of hard work on account of outstanding student debt or other federal loans,\u201d said Senator Wyden. \u201cWith inflation and rising costs of living, Congress must take the financial burden off struggling seniors and Americans with disabilities at risk of seeing their Social Security benefits cut. That's why I am proud to introduce legislation that will ensure that Americans\u2019 benefits are protected from garnishment, providing greater peace of mind to seniors in their retirement.\"\n\nBy the numbers:\n\nFor millions of adults, Social Security is their sole source of income and for more than 63% it makes up over half of their retirement income. Garnishment can be financially devastating.\n\nAccording to the CFPB, the total amount of Social Security benefits the Department of Education collected between 2001 and 2019 through the offset program increased from $16.2 million to $429.7 million.\n\nIn 2019, the average amount collected from individual beneficiaries was $186 per month.\n\nRead the full text of the bill here.\n\nRead a one-pager of the bill here.\n\nThe bill has been endorsed by the following organizations: Social Security Works, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), AFL-CIO, Justice in Aging, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-25T10:04:52Z", "2026-09-25T10:05:46Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://grijalva.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-grijalva-sen-wyden-introduce-bill-to-protect-social-security-benefits-from-garnishment"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7194331847131252, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}