Senate Republicans argued behind closed doors over a proposed bill that would increase Social Security benefits for people who are eligible for non-Social Security government pensions, with some party members wanting to stop the measure because of its cost.

“I think most of our members were alarmed that something so big” would have come to the Senate floor, an unidentified Republican senator told The Hill, adding that the lawmakers had held an “intense discussion.”

Senate conservatives led by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., are calling for Social Security reforms, including raising the retirement age, as a way to repeal policies reducing public-sector workers’ Social Security benefits.

The House passed its bipartisan bill, the Social Security Fairness Act, by a vote of 327-75 earlier this month. The Senate version of the bill is expected to come up for a vote Wednesday.

The Senate bill has 14 GOP co-sponsors, but Paul and other Republicans are arguing that it will speed up Social Security bankruptcy.

The legislation is sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, and if passed will repeal the 1983 Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) enacted in 1977, which allows public-sector workers to receive full Social Security benefits.

WEP reduces Social Security benefits for workers getting pensions for employment not covered by Social Security and GPO reduces benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers of people who get government pensions. Read More Here at Newsmax!