Sherrill pushing bill to ensure Trump admin staffing cuts don’t affect benefits

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) says that, back home in her 11th congressional district, her constituents are worried about how staffing and funding cuts made by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could affect the health and retirement benefits they receive. She’s introducing a new bill today aimed at assuaging those worries.

Under Sherrill’s bill – one of many Democrats have authored to fight back against Trump and DOGE – the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development would all have to certify to Congress that proposed cuts, in some cases involving thousands of staff, would not affect Americans’ ability to access their benefits in a timely manner.

The bill would also give inspector generals the power to examine any cuts or changes made, and if their investigations find that the cuts did in fact lead to benefit or service reductions within one year of their enactment, they would be reversed.

“We were seeing an attack on a lot of organizations that people in my district rely on – whether it’s Social Security or Veterans Affairs, we’re hearing a lot of fear,” Sherrill said. “And it was also being done in a very politicized way; there wasn’t a good strategy to it, it was taking a hatchet to a lot of organizations that vulnerable people rely on. So this legislation forces more accountability.”

It’s not the first time that Sherrill, also a current candidate for governor, has used her office to try to take on DOGE. In March, Sherrill asked inspectors general to investigate Musk’s conflicts of interest related to his companies and his role in government; the congresswoman has also introduced a bill to make special government employees like Musk undergo drug tests, a hit on Musk’s reported drug usage.

And the issue of potential Social Security office closures is one that has energized Democrats, following reports emerged earlier this year that 47 offices would be slated to shut down under a DOGE plan. The Social Security Administration said such reports were “false”; last month, a group of congressional Democrats, among them Sherrill, sent a letter to the SSA asking the agency to keep its word and certify that no offices would close. (None of the 47 offices under discussion were located in New Jersey.)

As long as Democrats remain in the minority in Washington, such letters and bill introductions can likely only go so far. Sherrill, though, said that as her Republican colleagues discuss protecting Social Security, Medicaid, and other critical government services, she hopes they’ll see the sense in her bill.

“At some point, one would hope that there are Republicans out there that care more about their country than being a puppet of Trump, and will actually step forward and work on common-sense bills,” she said. “We’re not really asking them for a full-scale attack on the Trump administration’s policies – although I think that’s what everyone should be doing.”