Impact of Potential Social Security Changes on Local Residents
The Administration has given conflicting information about its plans for Social Security. For example, in December, President Trump told NBC News, “We’re not touching Social Security, other than we might make it more efficient, but the people are going to get what they’re getting. And we’re not raising ages or any of that stuff (1).”
However, the Administration has sent mixed signals regarding the way the Social Security Administration (SSA) is viewed by individuals in the White House. Leland Dudek, the SSA Acting Commissioner until May 7, announced in late February that it aims to cut some 7,000 employees, roughly 12% of its workforce.
Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), told podcaster Joe Rogan that Social Security is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time (2).” He then told Fox News’ Larry Kudlow that Social Security is a “gigantic magnet to attract illegal immigrants and have them stay in the country (3).” Neither of these claims is accurate.
Currently, SSA has approximately 1,230 field offices (4), such as the one in Sonora. Nationwide, roughly one in five people receives an SSA payment. In Tuolumne County, nearly one in three receives a payment from SSA, according to SSA’s most recent available data, pumping over $28 million (5) into our economy each year. In addition, county residents receive over $1.1 million through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program (6), a program administered by SSA that pays monthly benefits to people who are blind, age 65 or older, or have a qualifying disability, and with limited income and resources. SSI recipients are also covered by Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid (7).
While President Trump continues to insist that there will be no changes to SSA on a national level, DOGE continues to take actions that will negatively impact customer service.
An April 18 statement issued by SSA stated, “Over the next two weeks, SSA will carefully transition to stronger identity proofing procedures for both benefit claims and direct deposit changes. Individuals seeking these services who cannot use their personal My Social Security (internet) account, which requires online identity proofing, will then need to visit a local Social Security office to prove their identity in person (8).” This will make those actions difficult for people with mobility or transportation issues.
The Sonora Social Security office, which serves both Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties, currently has a seven-person staff, down from 12 employees some twenty years ago. There have been no recent firings or job-loss threats to employees, and none have accepted offers to take early retirement or termination. Morale is relatively high despite news of threatened changes at the national level (9).
Details of SSA’s financial impact on Tuolumne County (from 2023):
- County population: approximately 54,204 (8),
- number of retired and disabled workers, spouses, children, and widow(er)s receiving SSA benefits in Tuolumne County: 16,525; amount paid: $28,880,000 per year,
- SSI recipients: 1,462; amount paid: $1,171,000 per year.
NOTES
- “Read the full transcript: President-elect Donald Trump interviewed by ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristen Welker,” NBC News, December 8, 2024.
- “Social Security and Sex Robots: Musk Veers Off Script With Joe Rogan,” On Politics, The New York Times, March 11, 2025.
- “Musk Suggests His Team Will Scrutinize Social Security and Entitlement Spending,” On Politics, The New York Times, March 3, 2025.
- “Program Provisions and SSA Administrative Data,” Annual Statistical Supplement, 2023, Social Security Administration, 2023.
- “California,” OASDI Beneficiaries by State and County, 2023, Social Security Administration, 2023.
- “SSI Recipients by State and County, 2023,” Social Security Administration, 2023.
- “Important Medi-Cal program Information for New Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Recipients,” Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Health Care Services, State of California, August 2017.
- “Quick Facts: Tuolumne County, California,” United States Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, USA Government.
- Conversation with Sonora SSA employee without authority to speak on this subject, March 2025.