Biden Withdraws Trump Rule That Would Require People to 'Prove' Their Disability

On Thursday, President Joe Biden withdrew a Trump administration rule that required more frequent disability reviews. The Trump rule would have singled out as many as 4.4 million recipients between the ages of 50 and 65 to prove they were still disabled. The end result would have thrown potentially thousands of people off Social Security Disability Insurance because of the proposed disability reviews.

The rule Biden overturned requiring additional disability reviews was similar to a Ronald Reagan administration proposal in the 1980s, which removed 200,000 people from SSDI, but was ultimately reversed after public outcry. Social Security Works Executive Director Alex Lawson called it “the Trump administration’s most brazen attack on Social Security yet.” It was also one of several proposals by Trump that impacted disability insurance.

While Biden’s move was applauded by disability advocates, they urged the president to do more. Since Biden promised to expand Social Security benefits during the 2020 presidential election cycle, progressives are prodding him to fire Trump administration holdovers, Social Security Administration Commissioner Andrew Saul and Deputy Commissioner David Black, both of whom spearheaded the Trump administration’s changes to SSDI.

“The only thing that is acceptable at the Social Security Administration is a new commissioner and a new deputy commissioner who believe in the system,” Lawson told the publication Common Dreams last week. This should include a social safety net where people can keep their benefits without excessive disability reviews.

Lawson added: “The movement [to expand Social Security] won’t accept anything less.

Thank you to the over 135,000 people who submitted comments opposing this horrific policy! https://t.co/9yYUU8bHxc

— SocialSecurityWorks (@SSWorks) January 28, 2021