Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) and John B. Larson (CT-1) led 165 House Democrats in a call for Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano to halt the Trump Administration’s plan to remove or sharply reduce age as a factor in disability determinations, which would result in one of the largest cuts to Social Security disability benefits in history. President Trump plans to roll out new restrictions to deny benefits to many people age 50 and older with severe, documented impairments.

“Social Security is an earned benefit and a solemn promise. Weakening age protections while shrinking agency capacity will drive more older Americans with disabilities into poverty and ill health,” said the Members. “Our constituents are already facing a healthcare affordability crisis, higher prices due to tariffs and economic uncertainty, and a higher net tax burden due to the Republican Big Ugly Law. We urge you to abandon unilateral changes to Social Security disability eligibility and refocus your attention on ensuring that all Americans can access their earned benefits.”

The proposal would slash access to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits by weakening age protections that are required by statute, with independent analysis indicating large reductions in beneficiaries. The average age of an SSDI beneficiary is 56 years, with average annual benefits of less than $19,000. Many SSDI beneficiaries worked in physically demanding jobs, such as manufacturing and mining, and have been left even more vulnerable after Republicans slashed Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and WIC by over $1.5 trillion earlier this year. The letter warns that Trump’s plan may result in “one of the most sweeping and devastating cuts to Social Security ever made.”

These changes come amid significant staffing reductions at SSA that are already lengthening waits and limiting constituent access to earned benefits. This letter strongly urges SSA to immediately halt any measure that reduces eligibility, including by ending or curtailing the consideration of age; to instead preserve statutory protections when modernizing occupational data and tools, and to present a plan to rebuild field and adjudicative capacity to eliminate backlogs.

The letter was signed by 165 Democratic Members of Congress, including Reps. Amo, Ansari, Balint, Barragan, Beatty, Bell, Bera, Beyer, Bishop, Bonamici, Boyle, Brown, Brownley, Budzinski, Carbajal, Carson, Carter (LA), Casten, Castor, Castro, Cherfilus-McCormick, Chu, Cisneros, Clark, Clarke (NY), Cleaver, Cohen, Courtney, Craig, Crockett, Davis (IL), Dean, DeGette, DeLauro, DelBene, DeSaulnier, Dexter, Dingell, Doggett, Elfreth, Escobar, Espaillat, Evans, Fields, Figures, Fletcher, Foster, Foushee, Frankel, Friedman, Frost, Garamendi, Garcia (TX), Gillen, Goldman, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gottheimer, Green (TX), Hayes, Himes, Horsford, Houlahan, Hoyer, Hoyle, Huffman, Ivey, Jackson (IL), Jacobs, Jayapal, Johnson (GA), Johnson (TX), Kaptur, Kelly (IL), Kennedy, Khanna, Krishnamoorthi, Landsman, Larsen, Lee (PA), Leger Fernandez, Levin, Lieu, Lynch, Magaziner, Mannion, Matsui, McBath, McBride, McClain Delaney, McCollum, McDonald Rivet, McGarvey, McGovern, McIver, Menendez, Meng, Moore, Morrison, Moskowitz, Moulton, Mrvan, Mullin, Nadler, Neal, Norton, Ocasio-Cortez, Olszewski, Pallone, Panetta, Pappas, Pettersen, Pingree, Plaskett, Pocan, Quigley, Ramirez, Randall, Raskin, Riley, Rivas, Ross, Ryan, Salinas, Sánchez, Scanlon, Schakowsky, Schneider, Scholten, Scott (VA), Sewell, Simon, Smith (WA), Sorensen, Soto, Stansbury, Stanton, Stevens, Strickland, Subramanyam, Suozzi, Swalwell, Takano, Thanedar,  Thompson (MS), Thompson (CA), Titus, Tlaib, Tokuda, Tonko, Torres (CA), Torres (NY), Trahan, Underwood, Vargas, Velázquez, Vindman, Walkinshaw, Watson Coleman, Williams (GA), and Wilson (FL). Republican Members have been silent about these proposed Social Security cuts. These cuts would likely disproportionately harm people living in areas with higher shares of Social Security disability beneficiaries, including the South, Appalachia, Maine, and the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Read the full letter here.