While Congressional Democrats have been caught flat-footed by President Donald Trump’s bull-in-a-china-shop political strategy, the past weeks have seen a wave of protests and rallies in Washington, D.C., in defense of the many government programs the Trump Administration plans to defund, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB). These demonstrations have typically drawn smaller crowds than those that popped up at the beginning of the first Trump Administration in 2017, and are unaffiliated with the Democratic Party itself, though a few high-profile Congressional Democrats have made appearances in support of their causes.
At a rally in support of USAID on February 5, rally-goers chanted “DO YOUR FUCKING JOB” at Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, as he addressed the crowd alongside fellow Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. USAID, which oversees the management and distribution of U.S. aid to foreign civilians affected by conflict, poverty, and natural disasters, is the target of an attempted funding freeze by the Trump Administration, which, while temporarily blocked by a federal judge, has thrown the agency into chaos as its future remains uncertain. The rally was organized in part by current and former USAID employees, some of whom participated in the chanting after being told earlier that day to put their work on hold.
Warner quickly turned the microphone over to Kaine, who outlined the Democratic response strategy to Trump’s threats against USAID. “Monies allocated by Congress cannot be stolen by a President,” said Kaine, referring to Trump’s attempt to interfere with USAID funding. “They have to be used in the way they were allocated.” He pointed to a number of lawsuits against the administration in which Democrats are currently involved, including a suit to stop “private parties from rampaging through federal agencies,” referencing Trump ally Elon Musk, whose newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has helped lead the charge against USAID.
Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, echoed Kaine’s promise that Congressional Democrats would fight Trump’s agenda through the courts and the legislature, and received applause from the crowd when he declared that Democrats in the Senate “would cooperate with no appointment when it comes to the State Department.”
Zach D. Roberts
Also on February 5, a series of rallies occurred in state capitals across the country in conjunction with the grassroots “50501” movement, which emerged primarily through Reddit and other social media. The rallies ranged widely in attendance, from just a few dozen demonstrators to hundreds. Demonstrators discussed issues including transgender rights, immigration, and concern about Trump’s character and agenda.
Zach D. Roberts
February 5 was a full day for action in the U.S. capital. There was an early morning rally at the Treasury Department to try and stop DOGE’s handling of data there, including a podium and signs in anticipation of the arrival of the DOGE crew, including Musk at the Labor Department. Last week, after the AFL-CIO lost a legal bid to stop DOGE from accessing department files, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said the ruling was “a setback, but not a defeat.” On February 10, a coalition of unions sued to prevent DOGE from accessing personal data of students.
Zach D. Roberts
At the Labor Department rally, union members from AFL-CIO and AFGE distributed signs that read “Hands off Workers’ Data,” “Nobody Elected Musk,” and “Department of People Who Work for a Living.” Chants of “Musk Has Got to Go” were peppered with jeers directed at elected officials. Senator Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, praised the unions, and said Democrats would “fight like the union leaders did in the 1930s.”
The executive director of the Union Veterans Council, Will Attig, closed the labor protest, grabbing the megaphone and jumping on top of a bulwark. Though it was at times hard to hear speakers throughout the rally, Attig made his voice heard, telling the crowd of assembled union members that “This is the power of a union.”
On February 10, more than 200 demonstrators gathered outside CFPB offices to protest a recent directive of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Russell Vought, calling for employees at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) to stop all work. The CFPB, which was created in 2010 based on a proposal by Senator Elizabeth Warren, acts as a watchdog on behalf of consumers over banks, mortgage lenders, and financial industries. It has been continually targeted for closure by Republicans, and is now imperiled under the second Trump Administration.
Ezra Levin, cofounder of the grassroots leftwing organization Indivisible and one of the rally’s organizers, called on each legislator who took the microphone to withhold their vote on all of Trump’s nominees and legislation, asking, “Can you commit to withholding your vote until this Constitutional crisis is over?”
Elon Musk, who has previously been the target of investigations by the CFPB, celebrated the death of the bureau by posting “CFPB RIP” with a tombstone emoji on X last week. Musk’s plan to turn the social media app previously called Twitter into an “everything app” that also processes financial transactions will be allowed to continue forward should the closure stand.
“This is like a bank robber trying to fire the cops and turn off the alarms before he strolls in the lobby,” said Warren.
In addition to bringing criminal scammers to justice, speakers emphasized, the CFPB also works to prevent circumstances that lead to vulnerable people falling prey to scams. Alys Cohen of the National Consumer Law Center told a story of a homeowner who was pushed into a new mortgage plan he couldn’t afford. The CFPB intervened and got the family back on the right plan, saving the man’s home and farm. Cohen added that, thanks to the CFPB, “companies are required to work with you to find an affordable solution.”
Congressman Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, made an appearance toward the end of the rally. As the evening grew cold, he joked about how many similar rallies he’s attended, saying, “A rally a day keeps the fascists away.”
Raskin, who was a professor of Constitutional law prior to entering Congress, pointed out that the CFPB was created by Congress, and as such, cannot be dismantled by Trump officials. “Elon Musk didn’t create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” Raskin said. “The representatives of the people—the United States Congress—created the CFPB. And if somebody is going to dismantle it and tear it apart, it would only be the Congress of the United States. But the Congress will never do it, because the people of America support the CFPB.”
More protests will undoubtedly pop up on a daily basis at the agencies being targeted by Trump, Musk, and DOGE. Last week, Vice President J.D. Vance suggested on X that the courts don’t have the power of unfettered judicial review over the Executive Branch, claiming, “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
Zach D. Roberts