Key Takeaways
- •The hearing highlighted the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) as a successful, solvent retirement model, but also exposed critical administrative funding limitations causing service delays.
- •Erhard Chorle (RRB Chair) stated the investment trust's 7.9% average return prevented insolvency, while Jeff Joines (railroader) stressed the RRB's importance despite long disability claim waits.
- •Senator Hawley (Republican-MO) pressed Erhard Chorle (RRB Chair) on inexcusable delays, poor customer service, and outdated COVID protocols, demanding a written plan for immediate improvements.
- •Republicans and Democrats largely agreed on the RRB's success as a retirement model, but Democrats emphasized the urgent need for increased administrative funding to improve service.
- •Senators Cassidy (Republican-LA) and Kaine (Democratic-VA) are developing legislation to grant the RRB similar funding autonomy to PBGC and FDIC, addressing its administrative challenges.
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Hearing Analysis
Overview
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) convened on February 5, 2026, to examine the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) as a model for secure retirement. Chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) with Ranking Member Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT), the hearing focused on the financial success of the RRB’s investment trust following 2001 reforms, while simultaneously addressing severe administrative backlogs and staffing shortages that have hindered service delivery to railroad workers and retirees.
Key Testimony
The hearing’s primary purpose was to highlight the RRB as a "gold standard" for retirement sustainability. Chairman Cassidy noted that in 2001, the RRB faced $34 billion in unfunded liabilities. In response, Congress passed bipartisan reforms creating the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (NRRIT), which allowed the fund to invest in a diversified portfolio of private-sector securities rather than being restricted to low-yield Treasury bonds. Erhard Chorle, Chairman of the Railroad Retirement Board, testified that this shift has been remarkably successful. Since its inception, the trust has achieved an average annualized return of 7.9%, contributing $35 billion to the system. Chorle emphasized that without these market returns, the fund would have been insolvent by 2021; instead, it currently holds $28.6 billion in assets and is projected to remain solvent for at least 75 years.
Despite this financial health, witnesses and senators identified a "crisis of administration." Ranking Member Sanders and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) highlighted that while the RRB is self-funded through payroll taxes paid by the rail industry, its administrative budget is subject to an artificial spending cap imposed by Congress. This has led to a 30% reduction in staff and the use of antiquated technology, including 1980s-era COBOL programming. Jeff Joines, Director of Government Affairs for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, testified that these shortages have resulted in a 470-day average wait time for disability benefit determinations. Joines noted that because short-term sickness benefits often expire after nine months, many disabled workers face nearly a year without any income while waiting for the RRB to process their claims.
Policy Proposals
Policy proposals centered on lifting the administrative spending cap to allow the RRB to use its own funds for modernization. Chairman Chorle requested a $170 million budget increase to hire staff and upgrade IT systems. Sen. Cassidy and Sen. Kaine discussed ongoing legislative efforts to grant the RRB the same budgetary status as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which would exempt their administrative spending from certain congressional appropriations hurdles. Additionally, Sen. Cassidy and Sen. Kaine suggested that the RRB’s investment model could serve as a blueprint for addressing Social Security’s long-term solvency issues by creating a similar investment fund to buttress the existing system.
Overview
The hearing featured a sharp exchange between Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Chairman Chorle regarding customer service failures. Sen. Hawley cited reports from Missouri constituents who were allegedly told by RRB employees that if they died before their claims were processed, their children would receive the money. He also criticized the St. Louis field office for maintaining "COVID-19 protocols" and limited hours. Chorle apologized for the reported employee conduct, calling it "inexcusable," but maintained that such issues are symptoms of a workforce stretched too thin. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) raised concerns about the impact of "Precision Scheduled Railroading" (PSR) and industry mergers on service reliability for farmers, noting that a shrinking workforce affects both rail operations and the long-term tax base for the retirement fund.
Industry Impact
The industrial impact of the discussion is significant for the rail sector, specifically Class I railroads and labor unions like the Teamsters and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). Both management and labor appear uniquely aligned in supporting increased administrative funding for the RRB, as the costs are covered by their own payroll taxes rather than general taxpayer revenue. Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) also connected the RRB’s success to broader market-based retirement proposals, such as "Trump accounts" for youth investment.
Overview
In his closing remarks, Chairman Cassidy reiterated that the RRB proves that market-based investment, governed by strict fiduciary standards, can secure retirement for decades. The committee indicated it would continue working on the administrative funding fix to reduce backlogs. Senators were given until February 20, 2026, to submit additional questions for the record. Organizations mentioned during the proceedings included the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (NRRIT), CSX, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
Transcript
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order. I start off today highlighting this is a bipartisan hearing. The witnesses were selected both by Cassidy and Sanders, and I thank Senator Sanders for his engagement and willingness to just address in such a process such an important issue, retirement. Like almost every American wants to retire for as many reasons as there are Americans. We want to retire with security. So therefore, we agree to have money taken out of our paycheck and put aside one day so that we can retire. Begs the question, if we're paying for it, why can some not afford it? As chair of this committee, I'm committed to making sure that retirement is not some far-off dream but a reality for everyone in my state of Louisiana and in the United States of America. Senator Tim Kaine and I have several bills in the works, but there is more to do. As we look to strengthen the American retirement system, let's look at what has worked. If we don't have to reinvent the wheel, don't reinvent it, look to the success. The Railroad Retirement Board works. It is solvent. It is successfully providing a wide range of benefits to rail workers and families, including retirement, survivor, disability, unemployment, sickness, and vested dual benefits. But important to note, this was not always the case. In 2001, the Railroad Retirement Board, the RRB, had over $34 billion in unfunded liabilities by private sector standards. There were too few workers supporting a lot of retirees. Now, that's a problem we're seeing in Social Security and other systems now. What can we learn to benefit? So in 2001, Congress formed a trust for the RRB, which resembled a private sector pension plan. And they subjected this trust to robust fiduciary standards similar to what is expected in the private sector. Congress made sure the money was invested with the best interest of beneficiaries in mind. And it took the power of the American economy and it brought it to the service of hardworking Americans who wouldn't invest on the stock market on their own, but through this process could enjoy the fruits of what our economy spins off. Now, this reform had bipartisan support. We look back upon that in kind of an envy. Every Democrat in the Senate voted for it, and many of my colleagues who voted for it in 2001 are still in Congress today. They were either in the House or the Senate then, but they still are. Let me give some examples: Susan Collins, Mike Crapo, Dick Durbin, Chuck Grassley, Lisa Murkowski, Patty Murray, who's on our committee, Jack Reed, Chuck Schumer, Mark Warner, and Ron Wyden. By the way, the few who opposed were Republicans. Democrats unanimously, Republicans substantially. But since this is an agency that's been supported by Congress, employers, unions, and workers, and that is what we should be striving for in this committee's work: bipartisan, multi-stakeholder agreement around solutions delivering results for workers and families. As of September 2024, the RRB trust held $28.6 billion in assets compared with $27.6 billion in liabilities. And these returns enabled Congress to lower the payroll tax on employers and to provide a lower retirement age to workers than Social Security without harming the overall solvency of the program. By the way, the RRB trust charges fees lower than most private sector funds, which means more of those dollars fund the benefits. So modeled after a pension investment fund, which is how every major corporation successfully plans for their employees' retirements, the RRB's trust fund is predicted to continue running smoothly and solvently for another 75 years, which is the limit of our projections. It is the gold standard for sustainability, investing in the power of the U.S. economy, producing returns for the families relying on that income. Now, we spend a lot of time in Washington talking about what doesn't work. It becomes about problems and barriers and, my gosh, can't we work it out? It turns out that when we focus on things that do work, we can find solutions to these problems and perhaps collaboration where previously we thought it not possible. So let's learn from the RRB. Let's come up with other solutions based upon this that work for the employer, the union, the ununionized, and the worker. Thank you to our witnesses for being here. We look forward to hearing firsthand accounts of the RRB's positive impact. And with that, I recognize Senator Sanders.
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