Administration revives previous proposal to cut Social Security disability programs

In his 2019 budget proposal, President Donald Trump revived a proposal from his previous budget that would cut disability programs administered by the Social Security Administration.

Under the heading "reform disability programs," the budget blueprint counts $72 billion in spending reductions over 10 years. These would be from two similarly named but distinct programs run by the Social Security Administration -- Social Security Disability Insurance (or SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (or SSI).

SSDI benefits people with physical and mental conditions that are severe enough to permanently keep them from working. It is funded by Social Security payroll taxes. Meanwhile, SSI payments are limited to low-income Americans -- senior citizens, or adults or children who are disabled or blind. The payments are funded through general revenue from the treasury.

"The largest cut would come from an unspecified proposal to test new approaches to increase labor force participation of people with disabilities," said Benjamin W. Veghte, the vice president for policy at the National Academy of Social Insurance.

As we noted last year when we looked at this promise, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney has argued that putting forth this proposal doesn't mean that Trump would be breaking his promise, because the budget proposal doesn't cut from the Social Security retirement program.

But even beyond the fact that SSDI and SSI are administered by the Social Security Administration, they also serve a large population.

Through December 2017, there were 10.4 million SSDI recipients and 8.2 million SSI recipients. That's smaller than the 51.5 million Americans who receive old-age and survivor benefits, but it's a significant group.

It's important to note that the president's budget is a non-binding proposal, and this policy idea may well fall by the wayside this year, as it did last year.

Even so, the budget document reflects Trump's priorities and policy positions. Since he's reviving last year's proposal, we will continue to rate the promise Stalled.