Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is once again sounding the alarm about what he calls a dangerous shift in federal priorities under President Donald Trump. In a recent post on X, Sanders warned that “millions of older & disabled Americans are struggling to survive,” and claimed that Trump “wants to completely deny Social Security benefits to hundreds of thousands of older Americans with disabilities.”
Proposed Rule Would Drop Age From Disability Review Process
At the center of the controversy is a Trump administration plan to overhaul the Social Security disability program by removing age as a factor in determining eligibility. Currently, Americans over 50 are more likely to qualify for benefits because age is considered a barrier to finding new work. The proposed rule would either eliminate that consideration entirely or raise the threshold to age 60.
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According to The Washington Post, the change could result in hundreds of thousands of people losing benefits. A 10% drop in eligibility would mean 750,000 fewer recipients over the next decade, with an estimated $82 billion less paid out. The proposal is also tied to a push to replace outdated job data used to evaluate whether applicants can still work, raising concerns among disability advocates that older Americans could be denied benefits based on unrealistic job expectations.
“The criteria already is really tight enough that we’re actually restricting some people we probably should allow,” the Urban Institute Senior Policy Fellow Jack Smalligan told the Post.
Sanders described the proposal in harsh terms: “Tax breaks for billionaires. A death sentence for older Americans. We must fight back.”
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A Broader Agenda To Cut The Safety Net
This isn’t the first time Sanders has raised alarms over the Trump administration’s fiscal priorities. In May, he blasted a budget reconciliation bill passed by Republicans, calling it a giveaway to the wealthiest Americans.
“This legislation makes the rich and wealthy campaign contributors even richer while making life harder and more stressful for the working families of our country,” Sanders said.
That bill included a $235 billion estate tax cut for the top 0.2% of Americans—those inheriting over $30 million—while cutting $715 billion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Sanders claimed the legislation would force over 13.7 million people off their health insurance and deliver $420 billion in tax breaks to corporations that offshore profits.
“At a time when children and seniors go hungry here in the wealthiest country on Earth,” Sanders said, “our job should be to make sure that all Americans have the nutrition they need to lead healthy lives—not increase the level of hunger.”
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