White House Backs $1 Billion Delphi Pension Plan for 5,100 Ohio Retirees

Q: Why does this pension fix need $1 billion from taxpayers when the government's pension insurer has a massive surplus?

It needs taxpayer money because this is not a normal PBGC insurance payment. The Delphi proposal would create a separate Treasury trust fund to pay benefits above what PBGC is legally allowed to guarantee under current law. PBGC’s single-employer program does have a large surplus — about $62.2 billion at the end of fiscal 2025 — but that money is not a general pot Congress can simply redirect. PBGC is designed to be self-financing through plan assets, recoveries and insurance premiums, not annual appropriations. Its benefit payments are also capped by statute, with limits that reduce payouts for some retirees, especially those who retired early or had higher promised pensions. Delphi’s salaried retirees were hit by those limits after the 2009 bankruptcy. The Turner-Husted plan would override those standard PBGC limits for this specific group, restoring full vested benefits and even providing back payments with 6% interest. Because PBGC does not have standing authority to make those extra payments from its insurance fund, the administration asked Congress for a $1 billion appropriation to a new “Delphi Full Vested Plan Benefit Trust Fund” at Treasury. In short, the issue is less whether PBGC has money and more that the proposed fix is a special legislative top-up outside PBGC’s normal insurance rules. Congress could try to offset the cost by changing future PBGC premiums, but under the proposal the immediate funding source is federal appropriations.

3 articles · Updated · Dayton Daily News · Jun 24

$1 billion in proposed supplemental spending would restore pensions for Delphi's managerial retirees, after the White House backed Rep. Mike Turner's plan on Wednesday.
The push targets benefits cut when Delphi handed its salaried pension plans to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. during its 2009 bankruptcy, leaving retirees with far less than expected.
Turner said he is advancing the measure through an amendment tied to the National Defense Authorization Act, while Sen. Jon Husted called it justice for families including more than 5,100 Ohioans.
The proposal still needs House and Senate approval and President Donald Trump's signature, offering the closest legislative breakthrough yet in a 17-year fight after court challenges and earlier Capitol Hill efforts failed.