The White House is reportedly considering a sweeping change to how the Social Security Administration determines eligibility for disability benefits—one that could eliminate or significantly weaken the role of age in deciding whether an applicant qualifies.
According to multiple sources familiar with the plan, President Donald Trump’s administration is exploring a proposal to raise the age threshold for disability consideration from 50 to 60, or possibly remove age as a factor altogether. The change would mark one of the most consequential overhauls in the history of the federal safety net for Americans with disabilities, particularly older workers who rely on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) after injuries or chronic health conditions make continued employment impossible.
Currently, the Social Security Administration evaluates disability claims using a framework that weighs a person’s age, education, and work experience to determine whether they can perform other jobs. Age is considered a crucial factor, since older applicants with limited transferable skills are often less likely to find new employment.
Under the new proposal, however, the administration would remove or diminish that consideration. The result, analysts say, could be devastating: 750,000 fewer people receiving disability payments and $82 billion in reduced benefits over the next decade, according to data cited from the Urban Institute. Another 80,000 widows and children who rely on the program would also be affected.
The plan is reportedly being championed by White House budget director Russell Vought, a close Trump ally and one of the chief authors of Project 2025, a right-wing policy blueprint published during the 2024 presidential campaign. While Trump distanced himself from the document at the time, sources told The Washington Post that he has since “enacted nearly half of its objectives.” In recent weeks, he has also “more openly embraced Project 2025 in public comments.”
A White House spokesperson maintained the administration’s position that the president “will always protect and defend Social Security.”
The Social Security Administration has confirmed that changes to the disability program are under review. In a statement, agency spokesperson Barton Mackey said the SSA aims to “propose improvements to the disability adjudication process to ensure our disability program remains current and can be more efficiently administered.”
“This includes proposing policy updates to occupational data sources and optimizing their use to serve our customers and preserve the trust funds,” Mackey added. “Once the proposal is fully developed, we will share it publicly and request public comment through the standard rulemaking process. … As with any rulemaking, we will consider and analyze public comments before deciding whether to finalize the rule.”
Lawmakers and advocates have denounced the reported plan, warning that it would amount to one of the largest cuts to disability insurance in U.S. history.
“This is Phase One of the Republican campaign to force Americans to work into old age to access their earned Social Security benefits, and represents the largest cut to disability insurance in American history,” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. “Americans with disabilities have worked and paid into Social Security just like everybody else, and they do not deserve the indignity of more bureaucratic water torture to get what they paid for.”
Progressive advocacy organizations voiced similar outrage, framing the proposed rule as a direct attack on working Americans and retirees who have contributed to the program throughout their lives.
“Americans EARN Social Security disability benefits” by paying into the program “with every paycheck, along with retirement and survivor benefits,” read a Facebook post from Social Security Works, a national advocacy organization that campaigns to protect and expand benefits. “But now, the Trump administration is trying to cut those benefits. They’ll do anything to protect billionaires from paying their fair share.”
The Alliance for Retired Americans posted its own statement, warning that the proposed change amounts to a broken promise. “This is a cut to the benefits millions of Americans have earned. And we’re not going to stand for it—we’re going to fight,” the group wrote on X.
Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee framed the plan as a betrayal of older Americans who have “played by the rules.” In a statement Monday, members of the committee said, “You worked hard. You played by the rules. Now, Trump is breaking the promise of Social Security when you need it most.” They added: “In Trump’s America, if you’re not young and healthy, you don’t matter.”
Critics argue that the administration’s framing of the plan as an efficiency measure masks a deeper effort to shrink the social safety net. The White House and senior officials have repeatedly claimed—without evidence—that “millions of people who are hundreds of years old are collecting Social Security payments.” Those claims, opponents say, serve as political justification for cutting programs that benefit older Americans and people with disabilities while pursuing “massive tax cuts for America’s wealthiest households.”
The Social Security program currently serves tens of millions of Americans, including retirees, widows, and individuals with disabilities. It is divided into two main benefit categories: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which functions as an earned insurance program for workers who become disabled, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provides monthly payments to people who are disabled, blind, or over 65 with limited income or assets.
For many older Americans with disabilities, access to SSDI determines whether they can remain financially stable before reaching full retirement age. Removing age as a factor in the disability determination process could make it significantly harder for people over 50 to qualify—effectively forcing many to start claiming early retirement benefits. Those who do would face a permanently reduced monthly income for the rest of their lives.
Analysts have warned that raising or eliminating the age threshold would disproportionately harm people with physically demanding work histories, such as construction, manufacturing, or caregiving, who often experience work-limiting conditions earlier in life.
Advocates also warn that widows, widowers, and dependent children—among the 80,000 expected to lose eligibility under the projected cuts—would face heightened economic insecurity.
While the administration portrays the review as part of a modernization effort, critics see it as a test run for broader social spending cuts. Senator Wyden, echoing a warning from earlier debates over entitlement reform, called the reported plan “the largest cut to disability insurance in American history.”
The SSA has not said when the proposed rule will be published or opened for public comment, but officials indicated that they plan to proceed through the “standard rulemaking process.” Until then, disability advocates, lawmakers, and beneficiaries are preparing for what could become a major battle over the future of the nation’s most relied-upon social program.
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