On its very first day in power the newly installed Republican-controlled Congress created controversy by approving a rule that will jeopardize the solvency of Social Security. This could result in a reduction of benefits by 20 percent for 11 million beneficiaries.

The Republicans are resisting the reallocation of funds from the part of the Social Security program that benefits retired seniors to the part of the Social Security program that benefits people with disabilities. House Republicans say they are simply trying to protect the Old Age and Survivors Insurance fund from being raided to fix a broken disability insurance program. “We just want to make sure we improve the integrity of the Social Security trust fund all across the board,” says Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.).

Reallocating or shifting money between the two programs isn’t rare, and according to Kathy Ruffing of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities it has happened 11 times since 1968. If funds aren’t reallocated, the SSDI program will become insolvent by the end of 2016.

Henry Claypool, the executive vice president of the American Association for People with Disabilities, doesn’t think the SSDI program is broken. “The SSDI program provides vital support to people with disabilities that don’t have any income,” he says. He blames congressional inaction for the problems with the program. “The Social Security Administration doesn’t have the resources to manage it the way that it should and that’s largely due to Congress’ inability to fund the agency,” he says.

The refusal to reallocate funds could be politically risky for Republicans. Claypool says many SSDI recipients are older and live in traditionally conservative states. Cutting benefits could be hard for politicians in these states to explain to their constituents.