WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — Following public reporting that the Trump administration is preparing to deny Social Security benefits to hundreds of thousands of older Americans with disabilities, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy, wrote to Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Frank Bisignano strongly opposing this plan, which would drastically change the way Social Security disability benefits are calculated and reduce payments that families, older Vermonters and people throughout the country rely on.
“The proposal that President Trump is reportedly considering would either remove age as a factor in eligibility for Social Security disability benefits or increase it from age 50 to 60. If finalized, it has been estimated that this would be the largest cut to Social Security disability benefits in the modern history of our country,” Sanders wrote. “As the Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy, I am writing to urge you not to move forward with this absurd proposal.”
The administration’s plan comes at a time when 27% of Americans with disabilities live in poverty and when the average Social Security disability benefit is less than $19,000 a year — an already inadequate sum that makes it difficult for Americans with disabilities to make ends meet. Meanwhile, chronic under-staffing at SSA means more than 30,000 Americans die every year waiting for the Social Security disability benefits they have earned.
“This proposal would make a bad situation horrifically worse. If implemented, it would be a death sentence for older Americans with disabilities who desperately need these Social Security benefits. That would be unacceptable,” Sanders continued. “Without these meager benefits, people with disabilities in Vermont and all over this country would be unable to survive. In the richest country in the history of the world, we cannot allow that to happen.”
“Let me be clear: Taking away Social Security disability benefits from older Americans would be a massive cut to Social Security. It would break President Trump’s repeated promise not to cut this essential life-saving program. I urge you to immediately reject it and make it easier, not harder, for older Americans to receive the benefits they have earned and that they deserve,” Sanders concluded. “At a time when nearly half of older workers have no retirement savings and 22 percent of seniors are trying to survive on less than $15,000 a year, our job must not be to cut Social Security. Our job must be to expand Social Security benefits and extend the solvency of this program for generations to come by making sure the wealthiest people in this country pay their fair share of taxes.”
Read the full letter here.
