From low-income voters who supported Donald Trump last month, a plea to the president-elect: don't cut our benefits.
Trump often makes big promises to protect Social Security, Medicare and other benefits. But with a growing list of billionaires in his cabinet, a vow to end spending and a small Republican coalition in Congress that includes anti-spending hawks, his voters are less convinced.
Pennsylvania voter Lori Mosura described the businessman as “very responsive to the needs of everyone instead of just the rich” in an interview with the Washington Post. He lives below the poverty line, receives $1,200 a month in food stamps and Social Security benefits.
But he has a message for Trump.
“We helped you in putting you in office; please take care of us,” said Mosura, changing the conversation as if he were talking to Trump. “Please don't cut things that help the most vulnerable.”
Trump has enlisted billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to plot government spending cuts, a move that calls for cuts to Social Security and Medicare, experts say. Trump's allies have signed on to support dismantling safety nets, which account for nearly half of the federal budget.
Some Trump voters who rely on benefits, such as Steve Tillia, who receives $1900 in social security and food stamps, have high hopes for cuts to the departments that help them survive.
“It's not about cutting government programs, it's about reducing the number of people needed to run the program,” Tillia told the Post. “They're cutting staff, which could increase the number of programs we get.”
Meanwhile, local Republican officials are urging the Trump administration to leave the benefits alone. New Castle City Manager Chris Frye told the Post he expects some benefits changes at the state level, but hopes it won't be catastrophic.
“I think it would be stupid to just release something… we're going to have chaos. A lot of homeless people,” Frye told the Post. “Nationally, I don't think it will be a situation where they take people.”
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