‘the Biggest Heist In American History’: Dc Is Just Waking Up To Elon Musk’s Takeover

The agelong artifact extracurricular of nan US Treasury Department connected Tuesday was lined pinch protesters. They flooded crossed nan thoroughfare pinch signs guidelines slogans: “Nobody elected Musk”; “This is illegal”; “Stop nan coup.” It was 1 of aggregate DC protests targeting billionaire Elon Musk’s reported entree to halfway authorities costs systems, attended by Democratic members of Congress — and citizens who fearfulness excessively less group are opinionated successful Musk’s way.

“What we’re witnessing coming is nan biggest heist successful American history,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told nan tightly packed crowd, which was peppered pinch signs, surgical masks (a communal protestation accusation measure), and an orangish mylar balloon that resembled a animation of President Donald Trump. The vibe was orderly but energetic. Some signs called for Musk’s arrest, and astatine 1 point, protesters began an impromptu chant of “lock him up.”

In conscionable nan past less days, Musk and nan Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a caller impermanent connection Trump created retired of nan United States Digital Service and appointed Musk to lead — personification consolidated powerfulness and targeted a expanding database of nationalist departments. He’s taken it upon himself to unopen down nan United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and reportedly locked retired civilian servants astatine nan Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from their ain instrumentality systems. “This is each astir taking complete nan authorities successful bid to beforehand nan interests of Elon Musk and nan billionaires astatine nan disbursal of everybody different successful America,” continued Van Hollen.

“We personification sewage to show Elon Musk, cipher elected your ass,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said, prompting a accusation of cheers and laughs from protesters.

The crowd, which appeared to spot upward of a 1000 people, was serene but audibly upset. Attendees shouted for Democratic lawmakers who said astatine nan rally, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), who gave rousing speeches astir not ceding nan authorities to Musk’s control. But speaking pinch The Verge, protesters said it felt for illustration elected officials were conscionable opening to push backmost connected Musk’s unprecedented control, and immoderate wanted more. After remarks from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a chant from nan crowd collapsed out: “shut down nan Senate!” So far, Schumer and different Democratic senators haven’t gone that far.

“Where’s nan activity of nan Democratic Party successful this?” asked 1 rally-goer, who declined to proviso their name. “There are group that you cannot cooperate with, and it’s clip to admit that. So it’s clip to equine a existent guidance to what looks for illustration a conflict takeover of nan US government.”

The objection encapsulated a communal emotion successful Washington: that Musk’s unprecedented entree to delicate authorities accusation and operations marks a tipping constituent toward oligarchy; aft all, he spent a 4th of a cardinal dollars securing Trump’s presidency and his ain precocious created job. Alongside it — astatine this rally and 1 held successful beforehand of OPM earlier that day, arsenic bully arsenic successful conversations pinch nationalist workers — is simply a consciousness that galore Americans haven’t noticed and group successful powerfulness aren’t doing tin to help.

“What’s happening correct now is nan afloat changeable game,” said Katie Moore, who attended Tuesday’s rally successful beforehand of nan Treasury. “If they tin conscionable do worldly for illustration this pinch nary accountability astatine all, really tin we extremity point they’re trying to do? I don’t deliberation group extracurricular of DC get a bully consciousness of really ample a woody this is.”

While nan Treasury rally was comparatively bully attended, nan OPM arena earlier that clip — nan 2nd of 5 planned for this week — was acold sparser. It drew only astir 50 people, astir doubled from nan clip before, organizers said. Attendees were likewise enthusiastic, singing and sharing stories astir nan effect of Musk’s takeover, and passing cars during nan greeting unreserved hr honked successful solidarity. Rally-goer Nadine Seiler, though, was pessimistic. “We could only amass 50 group to show up pinch this personification accessing hundreds and hundreds of millions of people’s individual information,“ Seiler told The Verge. “You can’t want revolution, you can’t want change, and past want to beryllium comfortable” — she recovered herself “concerned that nan American group don’t care.”

Seiler, Moore, and galore different demonstrators were not nationalist workers. “This pertains to each of us,” Seiler argued. “The accusation that they personification entree to includes group who grounds taxes online.” (Reports opportunity nan systems spot accusation for illustration student indebtedness accusation and Social Security numbers, among different individual data.) Moore expressed liking that personification for illustration Musk infiltrating nan nationalist authorities is “the constituent that we can’t spread easy pinch an election.”

Another protester, Krista O’Connell, fears Musk’s entree to nationalist accusation because she believes “he has nary civilized compass aliases guardrails.” Even earlier Trump’s inauguration, Musk was utilizing nan banner of DOGE to nonstop harassment astatine little-known authorities employees. “The scope of things he could do pinch that data, it’s conscionable truthful wide that it’s conscionable terrifying. You personification to presume nan worst.”

After Warren demanded accusation earlier this week astir Musk’s costs strategy access, Treasury charismatic Jonathan Blum said that nan conception was “committed to safeguarding nan integrity and accusation of nan system.” Blum said that portion of Tom Krause, a Treasury worker and tech executive connected to DOGE, would personification “​​read-only entree to nan coded accusation of nan Fiscal Service’s costs systems” that is akin to what nan conception would proviso auditors. This mentation doesn’t tally pinch reports from Wired and TPM, which opportunity that Musk associates personification administrative privileges allowing them to represent codification and perchance modify costs systems.

Warren laid retired worst-case scenarios for Musk’s reported access: delays to a Social Security cheque to personification who criticizes him connected X; denial of a Medicare costs for attraction that personification astatine DOGE deems medically unsound. (The Treasury has denied immoderate payments personification been rejected.) Musk, it’s often noted, has an empire of businesses that spot partially connected authorities contracts and could usage from deeper access. “Every American’s accusation is astatine consequence — your privacy, your security, each 1 of you,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told nan crowd. “What is Elon Musk going to do pinch that information? What does Elon Musk do pinch point he touches? He makes money.”

Beyond immoderate azygous action is simply a larger looming question: if Musk tin state nan authority to unopen down a congressionally funded agency for illustration USAID, and DOGE has nan method capacity to powerfulness Treasury payments, what prevents it from softly (or moreover loudly) reshaping different parts of Congress’ appropriations? Trump declared an across-the-board nationalist backing frost past week and was rebuffed by a tribunal order. DOGE, too, is facing ineligible challenges, but their consequence remains unknown.

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA), nan ranking unit of nan House Budget Committee, says successful a relationship that “Trump’s attempts to withhold costs that personification already been approved are flatly unconstitutional. Let maine beryllium clear: an appropriations measurement is simply a law, and Donald Trump has a rule activity to recreation it to nan letter. We will usage each instrumentality astatine our disposal to portion them to recreation nan law, but if Trump aliases Elon are nether immoderate illusions astir what nan norm already requires, I would beforehand them to publication Article I of nan Constitution.”

Democratic lawmakers, though, personification publically declared their devices are limited. Without a mostly successful either chamber, they can’t extremity actions that Republicans look mostly aligned on. Some dream to return advantage of Republicans’ slim separator successful Congress, stalling operations pinch procedural maneuvering aliases denying Republicans a winning vote. “While location are perfectly things Democrats tin and must do to slow, obstruct, etc, GOP clasp immoderate House and Senate majorities, severely limiting our options,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wrote connected Bluesky.

The remark was somewhat astonishing from a lawmaker who’s been known to critique her ain connection for inaction. But connected a livestream connected Tuesday, she assured constituents that they’d beryllium apt to spot overmuch action from Democrats now that House members personification returned from their districts to Washington and advocated that nan Senate artifact each of Trump’s nominees. “We petition to beryllium a denotation successful nan ass,” she said.

Politicians’ speeches seemed to proviso immoderate comfortableness to protesters. But they are still pushing for Democrats to beryllium overmuch disruptive, including by making it harder for Republicans to corroborate Trump’s nominees by denying them procedural shortcuts to swifter votes. Lawmakers, meanwhile, opportunity there’s only truthful overmuch they tin do connected their own. “We personification to scope beyond this crowd, scope beyond this city,” says Blumenthal. “Reach beyond Democrats to Republicans and say, you are losing your country, too.”

The crowd quickly dispersed erstwhile nan remarks concluded. The doors to nan Treasury building remained closed to lawmakers. It was unclear who beyond those doors was listening.