Supreme Court Upholds Congress’ Power to Withhold Benefits From Puerto Rico

The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, decided on Thursday to uphold the U.S. government’s ability to deny certain benefits to residents of Puerto Rico.

The case dealt with the governments power to withhold the benefits from the Supplemental Security Income program, which was designed to assist low-income Americans who are older than 65 or disabled, from residents of Puerto Rico.

Currently Puerto Ricans are currently exempt from most federal income taxes.