Supreme Court rules Congress can deny federal disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Congress does not have to extend the federal disability benefits program to people in Puerto Rico.

The court ruled that Congress can treat Puerto Rico differently from the states when it comes to tax laws, and that it can do the same with the SSI benefits program.

One of the court's three liberals whose family is from Puerto Rico dissented.

SSI benefits are meant to help the disabled and elderly. The program is only available to people in the 50 U.S. states.

The question before the high court was whether the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment required Congress to extend SSI benefits to Puerto Rico.

The exclusion of SSI benefits from the territory was ruled unconstitutional by a lower appeals court. The Supreme Court was told by the Department of Justice that the ruling should be reversed.

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