Whilst the Social Security program may have started out with the goal of preventing elder poverty, it very quickly grew into an insurance program that provides support for an array of individuals. Today, in addition to retirees, the program provides monthly benefits to disabled individuals, survivors, and those who have little to no other resources or income (SSI benefits).
For low-income households or disabled individuals who no longer have the capacity to work, these monthly benefits exist as a lifeline of financial support. However, the Trump Administration appears to be in the process of reversing a change that had been in place from the time of the Biden Administration. Here is what you need to know.
Some disability benefits may be cut soon by the Trump Administration
In addition to regular Social Security benefits which are paid to retirees, their spouses, or surviving spouses, the Social Security Administration (SSA) also pays out an additional type of benefit called the Supplemental Security Income, or SSI. The SSI benefit is typically paid to qualifying individuals with little to no other income or resources, often due to being disabled. According to the SSA, these individuals would typically have less than $2,000.
In 2025, the maximum SSI benefit is $967, however, your benefit could be reduced due to a number of factors such as, work income, money from non-work sources, and living situation. According to the SSA, “if you live in someone else’s home and don’t pay your fair share of food and shelter costs, your SSI payment may be lowered by up to $342.33.”
If, however, the person you are a living with also struggles financially and is receiving “public assistance”, your benefits will not be reduced. As such, during the Biden Administration, it was decided that if anyone in the household qualified for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, the SSI benefits would not be reduced.
According to estimates from the government, by allowing SSI beneficiaries to receive full benefits if someone in the household qualified for public assistance, “about 300,000 people saw increased benefits; and 100,000 more became eligible.”
What is the Trump Administration planning to change?
Last week, a proposal was brought forward by the Trump Administration to rescind the SNAP rule put in place by the Biden Administration.
“The proposed rule would return us to the longstanding criteria and policies that were in place for decades before 2024,” a spokesperson for the Social Security Administration explained in a statement. “We do not expect this return to the status quo to create unnecessary red tape or cause an increase in workload for SSA staff. As is standard with rulemaking processes, the proposed rule will be made publicly available, and the public will be given a chance to comment before the rule is finalized.”
If SNAP qualifying households are no longer considered as receiving “public assistance”, hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable Americans will be looking at cuts to their benefits, with the possibility of some losing their benefits entirely.
According to a report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, “that would mean hundreds of thousands would lose benefits — and it would create a lot of red tape for the Social Security Administration, which administers SSI and is struggling with reduced staffing.”
If this change does come into effect, a cohort of individuals who already have little to no other resources or income will be seeing their money reduced even further. Not to mention the fact that this proposed change to the rules “could discourage families from offering help to their loved ones,” according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
It is also worth noting that due to the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, low-income citizens will already be facing SNAP and Medicare cuts.