We Can't Wait Act of 2026
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
We Can't Wait Act of 2026
This bill permits Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries to elect expedited payment of benefits in exchange for a reduction in the amount of their monthly benefit.
Specifically, the bill allows individuals to elect to receive SSDI benefits beginning the month after the onset of disability. Under current law, individuals generally must wait five months after the onset of disability to begin receiving SSDI benefits.
Individuals who opt to receive expedited payment during the first three years the bill is in effect must accept a 5.75% reduction in monthly benefits. At the three-year point and every five years thereafter, the Social Security Administration (SSA) must recalculate the applicable percentage to ensure no negative fiscal impact to the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Changes to the designated percentage may not impact the benefit amount received by existing beneficiaries.
SSA must make available an online tool for calculating the impact of electing to receive benefits during the waiting period on an individual’s SSDI benefit.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on February 25, 2026. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 25, 2026: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced it on February 25, 2026, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 25, 2026, 262 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 262 days ago, on February 25, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers