Trump proposal could strip SSI benefits from 400k Americans

The Trump administration is preparing a rule change that could reduce or eliminate Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for hundreds of thousands of low-income older adults and people with disabilities.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email outside regular working hours.

Current Policy

SSI benefits can be reduced by up to one-third—about $300 if receiving the maximum benefit of $967 per month—if recipients receive “in-kind support and maintenance,” such as housing or food from relatives. Benefits may also be reduced based on the income of a parent or spouse.

At present, those reductions do not apply if the recipient lives in a “public assistance household,” which includes families enrolled in programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The exemption was designed on the basis that households qualifying for SNAP had limited means and could not provide significant financial support to SSI beneficiaries.

Proposed Change

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a left-leaning think-tank, the new rule would remove SNAP as a qualifier for “public assistance household” status. If finalized, this could mean SSI recipients living in SNAP households would again face reductions for in-kind support.

The CBPP estimated that “nearly 400,000 SSI beneficiaries living with family or friends experiencing their own financial struggles likely would have their benefits cut—typically by hundreds of dollars per month—or lose eligibility altogether.”

“While more details will become available when the details of the proposed rule are made public, removing SNAP as a qualifying form of public assistance would likely result in benefit cuts for over 275,000 people and loss of eligibility for over 100,000 more, based on a 2024 SSA analysis,” the CBPP said in a report published earlier this month.

As of July, about 7.3 million Americans receive SSI benefits, according to the Social Security Administration.

Colin Ruggiero, a co-founder of DisabilityGuidance.org, told Newsweek: “It means that SSI recipients living in SNAP-recipient households could see their benefits reduced by up to a third or lose them entirely. The government would treat help from family, such as food or housing as ‘in-kind support’ and count it against the recipient. This would hit low-income, multigenerational households the hardest.”

He added: “It penalizes families by reducing SSI payments when they provide shelter or basic support to loved ones. Instead of recognizing this care as essential, the rule treats it as financial assistance that lowers eligibility.”

Effects on the SSA

The CBPP said the proposal would add administrative complexity for both beneficiaries and the Social Security Administration, which is facing staffing cuts. It also said, “The average annual savings from these benefit cuts would barely pay for a single day of the massive tax cuts for the wealthy that are part of the Republican megabill enacted in July.”

The think tank further warned that families might hesitate to provide housing or food support if it reduced SSI eligibility, and that some individuals could be pushed toward institutional care.

Noting potential reductions in states’ home- and community-based services because of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the CBPP wrote, “This risk would be compounded by the steep cuts to Medicaid in the megabill.”