WASHINGTON — The Senate is working to pass legislation that would provide comprehensive Social Security benefits to millions, paving the way for potential passage in the final days of the lame-duck Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday he would begin the process of a final vote on the bill, known as the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate policies that limit currently social security payments for approximately 2.8 million people.

Schumer said the bill would “ensure that Americans are not wrongly denied their well-deserved Social Security benefits simply because they chose at some point to work in their public service careers.”

The bill passed the House following a bipartisan vote, and a Senate version of the bill introduced last year gained 62 cosponsors. But the bill still needs the support of at least 60 senators to pass Congress. He would then head to President Biden.

At least one Republican senator who signed the bill last year, Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, said he was still “debating” whether to vote for the bill next week.

“Nothing is ever paid, so whether it’s additional debt, I don’t know,” he said.

Decades in the making, the bill would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Clause and the Government Pension Offset — that largely reduce payments to two groups of Social Security recipients: people who also receive a pension from a job that is not covered by social security. Security and surviving spouses of Social Security recipients who receive their own pension from the government.

The bill would add even more pressure to Social Security trust funds, which were already estimated to be unable to pay full benefits starting in 2035. It would add about $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Senator John Thune, the no. 2 Republican leader, acknowledged that the policy has strong bipartisan support, but said some Republicans also want to see it “fixed in the context of a broader Social Security reform effort.”

Conservatives opposed the bill, denouncing its cost.

“Even for something that people consider a good cause, it shows a lack of concern for the future of the country, so I think it would be a big mistake,” said Sen. Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky.

Still, other Republicans pushed Schumer to put it up for a vote.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said last month that current federal limitations “penalize families across the country who have worked in public service for part of their career with a separate pension.” We’re talking about police officers, firefighters, teachers and other public servants who are punished for serving their communities.

He predicted the bill would pass.

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