WASHINGTON, DC - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today issued a statement following the indication by the Department of Justice that the Social Security Administration (SSA) will retroactively recognize same-sex marriages that occurred before the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges:
“The Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this summer that all couples - regardless of sexual orientation - have the legal right to marry also meant that all same sex-spouses and their children were eligible for Social Security benefits," said Rep. Levin. “Still, some same-sex spouses that married before the Court’s ruling have continued to fight for the benefits that they are owed. I’m glad that today the Justice Department indicated that that SSA will now pay these individuals the benefits they’ve earned."
Last month, Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to SSA Commissioner Carolyn Colvin urging the Administration to notify same-sex spouses, widows, widowers, and their children of their eligibility to receive Social Security benefits.
