Trump Administration Targets Disability Benefits — Millions Could See Cuts

Trump Administration Moves to Roll Back Biden-Era Boost for SSI Disability Recipients

Thousands of Americans receiving federal disability benefits could soon lose extra income each month under a new proposal from President Donald Trump’s administration, reversing a policy change enacted last year by President Joe Biden.

The rule in question affects Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the federal program that provides monthly payments to people who are disabled, blind, or over 65 and have little or no income. Currently, the maximum SSI benefit is $967 per month. Traditionally, recipients who receive “in-kind support and maintenance” — such as help from a roommate or family member with groceries or rent — see their benefits reduced by one-third.

Last year, the Biden administration finalized a change preventing those benefit reductions if other members of the household were also receiving federal food assistance. The White House estimated the change allowed nearly 300,000 current recipients to receive full benefits and made another 100,000 people newly eligible for SSI.

The Trump administration has now announced its intent to rescind that change, a move critics warn will slash monthly benefits by hundreds of dollars for some of the nation’s poorest households.

“The Trump Administration’s proposal to change the rule would harm hundreds of thousands of the nation’s lowest-income people,” Kathleen Romig and Devin O’Connor, policy analysts at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, wrote in a Thursday blog post. They warned the rollback could force “heartbreaking” choices on struggling families.

“It could discourage families from offering help to their loved ones, for fear of jeopardizing their meager benefits,” the analysts said. “It could force more people to turn to institutional care because they could no longer afford to live in the community.”

The Social Security Administration, which oversees SSI, has not yet commented on the proposal.

More than 7 million Americans currently receive SSI, most of them disabled and living well below the poverty line. Strict program rules cap personal assets at $2,000, and benefits are reduced if recipients receive outside financial or material assistance. Biden’s rule was intended to ease those restrictions and reduce the reporting burden on recipients.

The reversal is part of a broader back-and-forth between administrations. Biden previously blocked several disability benefit cuts set in motion during Trump’s first term; Trump’s second-term agenda is now undoing Biden’s expansions. Congress has not taken significant action on SSI or Social Security Disability Insurance for years, leaving policy to swing sharply depending on which party controls the White House.