During his campaign, Trump made repeated promises to preserve Social Security benefits. Despite these promises, his 2018 budget proposal recommends cutting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments to disabled workers by $72 billion over the next 10 years.
Trump’s administration argues that SSDI budget cuts will address wasteful and fraudulent access to these benefits. However, SSDI applicants must meet a host of eligibility criteria to qualify for benefits. They must have worked a set number of years, have accumulated Social Security credits, and be under the age of 65. SSDI benefits are not overly generous (the US places 30th out of 34 peer countries for this type of benefit), nor are they easy to access – 60% of applications are denied. Despite these hurdles, there are nearly 9 million disabled workers currently receiving benefits; for 80% of beneficiaries, SSDI is their sole source of income.
These proposed SSDI cuts, particularly if combined with a repeal of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare and budget cuts to Medicaid, would devastate millions of Americans who are already struggling to stay afloat in the face of health issues and economic insecurity.
The House and Senate Budget Committees will use Trump’s budget proposal as guidance when finalizing their own budget recommendations. Constituents must make it clear to our members of Congress that SSDI and other social safety net programs represent our core values of supporting those most in need, and must not be eliminated in order to provide tax breaks to corporations and the most wealthy Americans.
Call Michael Turner at 202-225-6465, or Tweet @RepMikeTurner
Call Robert Portman at 202-224-3353, or Tweet @SenRobPortman
Call Sherrod Brown at 202-224-2315, or Tweet @SenSherrodBrown
Your script:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from Miamisburg.
I’m calling today because I’m strongly opposed to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) cuts proposed by Trump – millions of Americans benefit from this important program. I ask that Rep. Michael R. Turner strongly oppose cutting the SSDI budget and continue to support this and other critical social safety net programs.
OPTIONAL: Share story of how you or someone you know benefited from SSDI
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