February 7, 2025

Last week, Donald Trump initiated a bureaucratic coup long dreamed of by conservatives and capitalists. Elon Musk, who is not a government employee and has not been approved by the Congress, seized complete access to Treasury records alongside a group called the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOG-E). Credible reporting alleges that he and the group also have direct access over payment processing and approval within the Treasury itself. None of this is legal, and workers are sounding the alarm — but without firm resistance from the Congress or the Courts, systemic response is unlikely. (On February 5, a federal order was imposed to limit DOG-E’s access to Treasury data; it is unclear if this directive will actually be followed — without Congressional oversight, Trump and friends have a comfortable range of motion.)

Over the past week, Musk has been leading teams of fascists through government agencies to clear out sensitive government data and public records. Reporting by Wired suggests that these teams are staffed by literal teenagers who have been groomed for treason by right-wing billionaires eager to destabilize and subsume the federal government. Included in this push was a dubious proposal floated to workers to resign. On Thursday, the order was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Massachusetts until a hearing on Monday afternoon.

News has been fast moving, but awareness of the macro-fight will make following the day-by-day updates easier. In an hour-long live-stream earlier this week (find the recording on IG, YouTube), NYC elected and democratic socialist Rep. Ocasio-Cortez debriefed the objectives of Trump and the Republicans. Republicans have long dreamed of assaulting federal agencies that regulate corporate power and provide essential government services to the people; the confusion created by Trump across the government (trade wars, immigration orders, and a flurry of executive orders) is to provide cover for the conservatives’ plot. An additional ambition, Ocasio-Cortez warned, is cutting “enough” government spending in their Administrative assault to justify continuing Trump’s tax cuts on the wealthy and permanently hobbling government welfare programs. Medicaid, which covers over 91 million Americans, is a primary target.

Metro DC DSA’s chapter publication, Washington Socialist, has published a plea from a federal worker clarifying their disorienting experience over the last week. Career civil servants have been on the front lines, organizing resistance to Trump & DOG-E’s unconstitutional putsches in their workplaces. Locals have been organizing popular support for the workers, with protests growing over the past week:

• On Wednesday, a plan by Musk’s crew to invade and intimidate the Department of Labor was leaked. In response, workers organized a rapid turnout in front of the Department of Labor, forcing DOG-E to retreat to a virtual meeting. The rapid response was attended by pro-labor House Reps, including (non-voting) DC Rep Holmes-Norton and democratic socialist Rep. Tlaib.
• Local protest groups have been launching daily protests in front of the Office of Personnel Management (1900 E St NW) between 7:30 – 8:30am, and are planned daily and set to continue over the next week.
• On Tuesday, over a thousand people rallied outside the Treasury in response to DOG-E’s accessing of Treasury data. The event was widely attended by Democratic Party leaders in the Senate and House.
• Hundreds of protesters rallied at the Capitol building on Wednesday in support of USAID, which was shut down this week in an illegal maneuver by the Trump administration. The agency coordinates aid and relief programming on behalf of the US government, and the rapid shut-down puts a cascade of programming (especially on combating infectious disease and AIDs in foreign countries) at risk. Most workers have been put on leave by Friday evening, as contractors expect to be put on leave.
• AFGE and AFSCME filed a lawsuit this week challenging Trump’s efforts to politicize the civil service, asserting that President Trump illegally exceeded his authority in unilaterally rolling back regulations issued by President Biden that protect the rights of the civil service. The suit also names the Office of Personnel Management for its role in (not, as the case may be) adhering to protocols that regulate and govern federal agencies.
• Outrage is continuing to grow as evidence of Musk & DOG-E’s affronts are revealed to the greater public. The techno-fascists now have their eyes on the National Weather Service in a bid to privatize weather forecasting and restrict national research on climate change. From WSJ: Aides with Elon Musk’s DOGE have been accessing data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “in an attempt to uncover fraud.”
• The worker-owned coop The 51st has been covering local response to these actions on their digital pub.

Federal unions are planning a mass rally against DOG-E on Tuesday, February 11th at 11:45am. The action, prompted by AFGE, has been endorsed by Metro DC DSA and the chapter’s Labor working group is helping to coordinate attendance among locals. Readers can fill out this form to sign up for attendance and receive updates, and members of Metro DC DSA with access to our slack channel can check out #announcements and #action-alerts channel for DSA endorsed events. The AFL-CIO has also launched a new Department of People Who Work for a Living to counter DOG-E’s corrupt influence across the federal government. Going to a protest? Brush up on protest safety.