President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed a new rule change that would reduce Supplemental Security Income benefits for disabled adults and indigent older people who live with family members.
Details on the policy change and the impact on those affected
The administration is working on a rule that would deduct the value of a disabled adult’s bedroom from their SSI allotment, even if the family members are poor and qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The move would potentially slash SSI benefits by up to a third, according to ProPublica, which first reported the proposed change Tuesday along with information from four federal officials, internal emails and a federal regulatory listing.
The outlet reviewed the actuarial analysis of Social Security Administration figures, determining that about 400,000 low-income individuals in the United States, including disabled adults, indigent older people, and seniors living with their parents or adult children, may have their SSI benefits cut or eliminated. This also includes younger adults with disabilities like Down syndrome and severe autism, as well as older adults facing health or financial challenges.
One person likely to be affected by this change is 22-year-old Shy’tyra Burton from Philadelphia. She has an IQ below 70 and multiple developmental disabilities. She graduated from a high school special education program and attempted community college, but struggled with basic tasks and couldn’t find employment.
After extensive evaluations, she was approved for SSI and receives $994 per month. She lives with her father, a sanitation worker earning about $2,000 a month. The administration’s proposed change could reduce Burton’s benefits by about $330 per month, per ProPublica.
A long-standing policy changed under the Biden administration
The rule stated that households receiving SNAP or other public assistance programs cannot financially support a disabled family member at home. The Trump administration’s proposed rule would reverse this, classifying adults over 18 who do not pay full rent as having a benefactor, regardless of the household’s financial hardship, according to ProPublica.
The value of an SSI recipient’s bedroom, as well as any income and assets from the family, would be recalculated and deducted from their benefits each month.
“We propose to rescind the final rule Expand the Definition of a Public Assistance Household (final rule), by removing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from the list of public income maintenance (PIM) payments. We further propose to adopt our former longstanding definition of a public assistance household, according to which every household member has to receive a PIM payment for the household to constitute a public assistance household,” the federal regulatory listing stated.
“We propose to revert to our former policy to promote program integrity and because the benefits derived from the final rule do not outweigh the significant burdens and costs associated with its implementation,” it added.
What are experts saying?
The initiative began last year under senior White House and Department of Government Efficiency officials, representing a second attempt by the Trump administration to discreetly and significantly reduce disability benefit programs managed by the Social Security Administration, according to ProPublica.
Conservative think tanks opposed the Biden-era policy, arguing that reducing SSI payments for low-income beneficiaries could save $20 billion over the next decade.
However, critics say the rule would increase administrative burdens, requiring intellectually disabled individuals to submit detailed monthly reports on household finances and living arrangements, likely in person at local Social Security offices. They claim the change would additionally burden Social Security staff, who would have to constantly reassess millions of cases.