Democrats threaten to obstruct Trump’s agenda over Musk’s DOGE efforts

(WASHINGTON) — Democratic lawmakers continue to protest tech billionaire Elon Musk’s sweeping influence over government decisions and material, with protests, proposed legislation and other attempts to obstruct President Donald Trump’s agenda and the efforts of his close ally to cut what the Trump administration considers wasteful spending.

Dozens of lawmakers appeared Tuesday at a “Nobody Elected Elon” rally outside the Treasury Department, each delivering fiery attacks directed toward Trump and Musk. They described Musk’s action as a “heist,” a “takeover” and an “abuse of power.”

Rep. Ayanna Pressley went as far as calling Musk a “Nazi nepo baby.”

Democrats have pushed back against Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts, mounting growing protests, introducing legislation and threatening to try to derail his agenda by holding up confirmation of his appointees.

Rep. Maxine Waters said, “We have got to tell Elon Musk, ‘Nobody elected your ass. Nobody told you you could get all of our private information. Nobody told you you could be in charge of the payments of this country.’”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren added, “Not one Democrat in America voted for Elon Musk, not one not one Republican in America voted for Elon Musk, not one independent in America voted for Elon Musk, not one libertarian in America voted for Elon Musk, dammit, not one vegetarian in America voted for Elon Musk, and yet, Elon Musk is seizing the power that belongs to the American people.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal cautioned his Republican colleagues that Musk’s actions could have harmful consequences for their constituents as well.

Sen. Chris Murphy struck a similar tone as his Democratic colleagues, threatening to stall Trump’s nominees from being confirmed should Musk continue his overreach.

“You will remember this is the moment that made a difference for America, because the message here is, we have to reach beyond this crowd, reach beyond this city. Reach beyond Democrats, to Republicans and say you’re losing your country too,” Murphy said.

Pressley reached out to Republicans, too.

“I want to say to our Republican colleagues, pay attention. We’re here today in the hopes that you will see the light. But if you do not see the light, we will bring the fire. Resist,” she said Rep. Pressley.

During multiple times, there were chants of “Lock him up!” from the crowd, which appeared to be directed at Trump and Musk.

Murphy also made a dig at the young staffers reportedly working for DOGE.

“When we open up the Senate every single morning, we don’t pledge allegiance to the billionaires. We don’t. We don’t pledge allegiance to Elon Musk. We don’t pledge allegiance to the creepy 22 year olds working for Elon Musk. We pledge allegiance to the United States of America,” he said to cheers.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said they’re pushing joint legislation that would block ‘unlawful meddling’ in the Treasury Department’s payment systems — responding to news on Monday that Treasury gave Musk and representatives of DOGE access to its vast federal payment system.

At a news conference at the Capitol, the Democratic leaders unveiled the bill as the “Stop the Steal” Act, a play off of Trump’s rallying cry as he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The legislation would deny special government employees and anyone with conflicts of interest or a lack of appropriate clearance any access to the Treasury payment system. It also would include personal tax information into existing privacy protections, according to Schumer.

The White House said Monday that Musk received status as a special government employee, meaning he’s a short-term federal worker who works under looser ethics rules.

Jeffries said the legislation will be introduced “in short order” to prevent “unlawful access with respect to the Department of Treasury’s payment system connected to people who are trying to steal personal, sensitive and confidential information related to Social Security recipients, Medicare recipients, taxpayers, businesses, not-for-profits, veterans and everyday Americans.”

“It is unacceptable, unconscionable and unAmerican,” he said.

Given the Republican majority in both chambers of Congress, it is unlikely the legislation will advance. However, Schumer and Jeffries outlined other avenues Democrats could take. Schumer threatened to block funding legislation until there are changes and added that Democrats would also hold shadow hearings with whistleblowers.

Though the leaders repeatedly mentioned DOGE, they stayed away from directly saying Elon Musk’s name until asked by reporters.

Jeffries avoided saying the legislation was solely focused on Musk but rather centered around the “whole process” of the recent Treasury moves, when asked how concerned he was specifically about the Tesla founder.

“We’re concerned that Musk is in charge of DOGE, but we’re concerned about the how the whole process works, and ultimately the buck falls with Donald Trump, the president,” Jeffries said. “But we are concerned that a small number of people are concerned with the whole process, including Musk and including the others,” Jeffries said.

The Democrats repeatedly downplayed DOGE’s power.

“It has no authority to make spending decisions, to shut down programs or ignore federal law. This is not debatable. This is an indisputable fact: No authority for spending decisions to shut down programs or ignore federal law,” Schumer warned.

Schumer said that “all 47 Democrats” in the Senate would oppose the confirmation of Office of Management and Budget nominee Russell Vought in light of the federal funding freezes announced last week.

“We are united in our agreement that Russell Vought is a dangerous and destructive choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget, and we saw a precursor to his leadership last week during the dangerous federal funding fees that crippled nearly crippled critical duties of the federal government and its operations,” Schumer said.

“Senate Democrats will unanimously oppose him and do everything we can to prevent him from needing OMB,” he added.