FILE - Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at Van Andel Arena, Nov. 4, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — One after another, callers on a telephone town hall with U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga pressed the Michigan Republican about possible cuts to Social Security. Among them was a retired teacher and coach from West Michigan who said he and his wife, both with disabilities, have struggled to access their benefits.

The man, identified only as Michael from Allegan, said he feared that office closures and massive layoffs of federal workers — part of an effort by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to slash government spending — will make it even harder.

“We worked our entire life,” he said. “But we can’t get any help because we can’t get through to anybody.”

Huizenga pledged throughout the meeting: “Let me just reiterate, Social Security is not being touched."

Similar exchanges have played out across the political battleground of Michigan and elsewhere in the U.S. in recent days, as widespread cuts prompt fears among constituents about the popular program, which provides monthly benefits to retirees and some children. It's left Republicans scrambling to reassure voters and play down Musk's comments about Social Security and his ability to make cuts. The GOP also has accused Democrats of “fear-mongering" on the matter.

It's clear the issue has resonated. Of the 13 questions Huizenga took, nine were related to Social Security. In a nearby mid-Michigan district that was among the most competitive U.S. House races last year, a poll taken at the beginning of first-term GOP Rep. Tom Barrett's telephone town hall showed Social Security and Medicare as the top issue for attendees.

And at a fiery in-person town hall in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the first questions Rep. Chuck Edwards fielded was on how he would “ensure the protection of our Social Security benefits.” After the question was read, the room of about 300 people erupted in applause.

While Trump has repeatedly said he “will not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits,” the administration has begun layoffs affecting over 10% of the Social Security Administration workforce and the closure of dozens of offices nationwide.

Musk, the world's richest man and one of Trump's most influential advisers, has called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” He hinted that it could be a primary target in his broader effort to downsize the federal government, saying in an interview on Fox Business Network that “most of the federal spending is entitlements” and “that’s the big one to eliminate.”

The White House insisted Musk was only referring to fraud.

Democrats, struggling for a unified message against Trump, see an opportunity. Polling indicates that cuts to Social Security would be unpopular, including within Trump’s base. A solid majority of Republicans said the U.S. is spending “too little” on Social Security in a January AP-NORC poll, and only about 1 in 10 said “too much” is being spent on the program.

In her rebuttal to Trump’s joint congressional address earlier this month, Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin warned that the president “could very well come after your retirement.”

Potential cuts to critical government programs — such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — brought Leslie Boyd out to listen to Edwards’ town hall in North Carolina on Thursday. Those programs need to be improved instead of cut, Boyd said before the event, and she hoped Edwards had “the courage to stand up for that.”

Boyd, 72, said she has some savings, but depends on Social Security.

“I paid into that my entire career," Boyd said. “I worked from the time I was 16. I paid into that, it’s mine and I want it.”

Asked about the program inside the packed meeting, Edwards began by saying “President Trump has made it clear” before he was interrupted by jeers. He then shifted to discuss his own viewpoint on the program instead.

“I’m not going to vote to dissolve your Social Security. I’m not looking to,” Edwards started to say before being drowned out by shouting. He continued, “That’s a promise that’s been made to the American people. Those folks who have worked all their life and paid into that certainly deserve to reap the rewards.”

Several attendees continued to yell at Edwards, demanding he stand up to Musk.

Barrett opened a telephone town hall in his mid-Michigan district Monday night by addressing the flood of concerns over DOGE he said his office had been receiving. Barrett stressed that Musk is merely an adviser and said programs are “temporarily paused and under review.”

“I want to be very clear that this does not include Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid," he said. “Again, this does not include Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. It’s important to keep in mind that DOGE is only giving recommendations.”

Republican leaders have cautioned lawmakers against in-person town halls, contending without offering evidence that paid activists were disrupting events.

Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain, a staunch Trump ally, claimed Democratic donors had “organized” the disruptions.

Yet even in tightly controlled telephone town halls, where questions are often screened in advance by congressional staffers, Social Security was a top concern.

During McClain’s Monday call, a caller named Beverly, who said her handicapped son relies on Medicaid, expressed her fears: “I’m really concerned about that being cut, I guess.”

“Let me put your mind at ease. Do not listen to the Democrats that are fearmongering,” said McClain, who represents a heavily Republican district north of Detroit. “There are no cuts to Medicaid.”

During the town hall with Huizenga, a caller named Val from Berrien County, Michigan, voiced her frustration, warning that office closures could cause some beneficiaries to “slip through the cracks.”

“Suddenly they’re going to find themselves without the means to cover their housing, or the means to get the care they need or to be able to get food on the table,” she said.

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Associated Press writer Makiya Seminera contributed from Asheville, N.C.

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