Trump's Disability Cuts Could Hit His Own Voters the Hardest: Report [View all]

Source: Newsweek

Published Nov 02, 2025 at 11:00 AM EST updated Nov 02, 2025 at 12:44 PM EST


President Donald Trump's administration could be looking to make major changes to the eligibility of those receiving disability benefits, according to people familiar with the plans as reported by The Wall Street Journal. These changes could have significant impacts on those in red-voting states, Trump's own supporters, as many of these are particularly reliant on the benefits. Newsweek contacted the Social Security Administration (SSA) outside of regular working hours via email for comment.

Why It Matters

More than 8 million Americans rely on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, according to SSA data. The insurance provides essential benefits for workers who cannot support themselves with their own earnings and income because they have severe and long-lasting disabilities, which significantly limit their ability to work.

What To Know

The SSA currently evaluates disability claims for SSDI benefits by considering an American's age, work experience and education to make an assessment of whether they are able to adjust to various types of work. In the current system, those over 50 are more likely to qualify for benefits as age is deemed a considerable limitation is a person's ability to adapt to jobs.

However, the Trump administration may be looking to remove age as a factor for eligibility for these benefits altogether, or adjust the threshold to 60, instead of 50, three people close to the plan told the WSJ at the start of October. A senior administration official told ProPublica anonymously that the White House "does not think that simply being 50 years old is a disability."

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/trumps-disability-cuts-hit-own-voters-10978183