By JIMMY PANETTA
Dear Community Member,
As your United States Representative, I believe that protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is non-negotiable. These vital programs support millions of Americans, including retirees, disabled workers, survivors, children, and seniors. They must remain strong and accessible. But right now, these benefits are under serious threat.
Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are pursuing a reckless overhaul of the Social Security Administration. Their plan is to shrink the workforce by 12%, close nearly 50 field offices, and slash staffing for processing claims, appeals, and benefit payments. Call wait-times have already doubled, and these cuts could risk technical outages, disrupting payments to more than 73 million Americans.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are pushing massive budget cuts that could gut Medicaid, raise health care costs for working families, and put food assistance for thousands of Californians.
I’m hosting a town hall in Cambria at the Veterans Memorial Hall (1000 Main Street, Cambria, CA 93428) on Thursday, March 20, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. to hear from you and talk about how Congress is fighting back and working hard to protect the benefits that you and your family have earned.
