If approved, the two proposals would save a combined $3.4 billion over the next decade, according to administration estimates.
Any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits --- no matter how small --- could face intense opposition in Congress in an election year.
Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who chairs his party's campaign committee, said Tuesday of the administration.
"They can't resist trying to cut Social Security and to cut a survivor's, a widow or widower's benefits; it just shows how warped the priorities are in this budget."
"The president's budget continues to reflect the Republican agenda of cutting guaranteed Social Security benefits that workers have earned," she said.
Aides to Rep. Bill Thomas of California and Sen.
Lassiter said the benefit is paid in cases in which a surviving spouse was living with the deceased at the time of his or her death.
Administration officials said the payment began as a burial benefit in 1939, to assist families with funeral expenses.
The second change Bush proposed would terminate monthly survivor benefits for 16- and 17-year-olds who do not attend school full time.
Together, the proposals relating to disability payments and state and local retirees would save an estimated $2.8 billion over the next decade, according to administration estimates.
Unlike a year ago, Social Security did not figure prominently in Bush's legislative agenda.
Then, fresh off a re-election campaign, he urged lawmakers to overhaul the program to create personal savings accounts while cutting back on promised future benefits for workers who are younger than 55.
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