Press Release

ICYMI: People Who Work for a Living Are Fed Up with Unelected Billionaire Elon Musk and DOGE

Demanded that Elon Musk stop attacking essential workers and government programs people rely on 

104 events in 31 states

All across the country working people are holding grassroots events with the Department of People Who Work for a Living against unelected billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) who are attacking essential workers and government programs that people all across the country rely on.   

As members of Congress spent the week in their districts, workers participated in more than 104 actions in 31 states and Washington, D.C., to register their outrage. At town halls, rallies and protests, workers spoke out about the impacts of Musk’s mass firings of federal workers on local communities. 

DOGE’s attempted indiscriminate cuts aren’t just a slap in the face to dedicated federal workers, they put programs everyone relies on like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Affairs benefits at risk. 

Here are some highlights from last week’s DOGE protests:

Georgia

 

Atlanta 

North Carolina

Wilmington 

West Virginia

Morgantown 

Tennessee

Chattanooga 

Texas

Dallas 

Austin 

“I had to apply for unemployment, and on the very same day I did that, Elon Musk tweeted a meme calling the 10% of the poorest Americans members of the parasite class,” said Kristin Jenn, a fired federal worker in Austin.

Arizona

Flagstaff 

Iowa

Des Moines

Montana

Helena 

Ohio

Cleveland

Illinois

Chicago 

“I'm sad that I lost my job. But I'm also sad I'm not going to be able to help these people anymore who desperately need it,” said fired Environmental Protection Agency employee Nyla McCranie at a rally in Chicago.

Maine

Portland 

Alaska

Juneau 

“I spent nine years in grad school, five years in post doc. I’ve wanted to work for [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] (NOAA) a long time,” said an anonymous protester in Juneau, Alaska. “If I cared about money, I would have gone to Wall Street, but I care about our environment and our people. And NOAA provides a lot of services to Alaska, the rural and coastal communities here really get a lot of information from us, and I’m worried.”

Washington

Spokane 

“I've spent 18 years of my life in public service—eight as a U.S. Marine and 10 with the U.S. Forest Service,” said Gregg Bafundo, a forest ranger who was recently fired. “I'm a wildland firefighter, emergency medical technician, lead wilderness ranger and resource advisor. I've put myself between the danger and our civilian population. And this is how I'm treated.”

New York

Syracuse 

Washington, D.C. 

Contact: Prerna Jagadeesh, 202-637-5018