House passes Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act, 232–188
The House of Representatives voted 232–188 on July 23, 2026, to pass the Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act, a bill that would restore the Social Security Administration’s authority to run experimental projects aimed at helping people who receive disability benefits return to work. Eleven members did not vote.
The measure, formally H.R. 8884, would reauthorize through 2031 the Social Security Administration’s authority to carry out demonstration projects within the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program — authority that expired at the end of 2022. The demonstration projects test temporary changes to SSDI rules on a subset of beneficiaries and are meant to encourage work, and participation is voluntary. The bill also specifies that a beneficiary’s total income may not be reduced because they take part in a project, requires that administrative costs be paid from the agency’s administrative funds, and increases the advance notice the agency must give Congress before starting a project to 120 days from 90.
The bill’s sponsor, Representative Austin Scott of Georgia, described the legislation as growing out of a conversation with a wounded veteran. Scott said the bill originated after he took a young Marine, who had lost both legs after stepping on a pressure plate, hunting; the man said he wanted to work more hours at a local auto parts store but would lose all of his Social Security benefits if he earned $1 more than the monthly threshold. Scott said the bill does not force anyone to do anything and would give people receiving disability benefits the ability to return to work voluntarily without losing all of their benefits.
Representative Jason Smith of Missouri, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, spoke in support. Smith said an estimated 60 percent of SSDI beneficiaries have expressed a desire to return to work, but that less than 1 percent leave the program each year for a job, and that the bill would restore the agency’s authority to test solutions to close that gap.
Democrats opposed the bill, arguing it lacked safeguards and could be used to reduce benefits. Representative Judy Chu of California, the leading Democratic speaker, said the party supported the goal of reducing barriers to work but objected to the bill’s approach. Chu said the bill hands the Trump administration broad new authority to experiment with Social Security disability benefits with virtually no meaningful guardrails. She argued that the bill only guarantees that a participant’s total income would not be reduced, which she said does not guarantee that a person’s disability benefits would not be cut if they earn money from a part-time job. Chu also said that H.R. 8884 does not mention the Purple Heart Freedom to Work Act and does not require the agency to test it. Chu said that at a Ways and Means markup, ranking member John Larson had offered an amendment to require projects to be funded from the SSDI trust funds rather than the agency’s customer-service budget and to add guardrails, including barring any demonstration from reducing actual benefits or denying eligibility to new applicants, but that every Republican voted it down.
Representative Danny Davis of Illinois said he strongly opposed the bill, arguing it would give the administration authority to conduct a demonstration program that could result in reduced benefits for older, severely disabled and low-income workers, and noted it was opposed by the AFL-CIO, Social Security Works and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
In closing, Smith said the arguments against the bill showed that the Democratic Party is focused on legislative items that allow them to control Americans and did not want to give beneficiaries the dignity of work. Chu urged a “no” vote, saying the bill puts a lifeline for people with disabilities in jeopardy.
The bill was introduced by Scott in May 2026 and reported by the Ways and Means Committee. After passing the House, it was received in the Senate, read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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