The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year in favor of Vaello-Madero, deciding that Puerto Rico’s SSI exclusion violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution that requires that laws apply equally to everyone.

Vaello-Madero, who is 67 years old and disabled, mounted his constitutional challenge after the government sued him in federal court in Washington in 2017 seeking more than $28,000 for payments it made to him after he moved to Puerto Rico.

The government’s lawsuit was filed a month before Vaello-Madero lost the roof of his home in Hurricane Irma, which was followed weeks later by the devastating Hurricane Maria.

SSI benefits are available to U.S. citizens living in any of the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the Northern Mariana Islands, but not the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

Congress decided not to include Puerto Rico when it enacted the program in 1972. Puerto Ricans are eligible for a different government program, called Aid to the Aged, Blind and Disabled, that allows for more local control but not as much federal funding, the Justice Department said in court papers.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is due by the end of June.

Biden said in June that the existing law’s denial of SSI benefits to residents of Puerto Rico is “inconsistent with my administration’s policies and values” and asked lawmakers to amend the statute to extend the benefits to the territory.

After passing infrastructure legislation on Saturday, congressional Democrats are working to finalize a massive social spending bill, the latest draft of which includes a provision extending the benefits to Puerto Rico. If that legislation passes, it would limit the importance of the Supreme Court’s eventual ruling.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)