Washington DC—A coalition of Federal workers, allies, and a network of unions gathered at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center to denounce the Trump-Musk shutdowns and takeovers of Federal agencies, and firings of thousands of Federal workers.
Several hundred then marched a few blocks away to the 1200 block of F Street where the Elon Musk SpaceX rocket headquarters is housed. They stopped at the front entrances shouting “Hey hey, ho ho, Elon Musk has got to go!”
As they arrived at the doors their furry was evident. Over the past three weeks nearly every Federal worker had been affected in some way by the billionaire’s takeover and takedowns of Federal agencies and his DOGE “special government employee” disruptive actions inside agencies. Their anger reached a boil outside the SpaceX lobby building.
Unions included the ACLU and the Federal Unionist Network (FUN). Many Federal workers also took part in the action which was mirrored in other cities across the US.
DC Police quickly closed off streets as protesters arrived at SpaceX headquarters. The protesters crowded into the street as many others passed by on their way home from work and videotaped the fury of those taking part in the demonstration.
Most major corporations have lobbying offices along the K Street corridor in Washington DC. SpaceX offices happen to be about five blocks from K Street. The SpaceX location in Washington DC functions primarily as a public affairs and lobbying arm of the corporation.
Speakers, some of which identified themselves as Federal workers who had watched many colleagues lose their jobs, spoke about the coming disruptive changes to services Americans depend on.
Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants said of Elon Musk, “You can build all the dick rockets you want to go to Mars while you leave the rest of us on the burning Earth. We’re gonna take control. This is our world, and it’s our government, and it’s our money.”
Another Federal worker who asked not to be named, said, “I think one of the misconceptions that I’ve seen a lot talking about Federal workers is we’re paper pushers in Washington DC. We actually work on the ground in communities all over the place.” She described how Federal workers safeguard air traffic, food production and processing, regulate air and water contamination. She said that they want to keep doing their work because they understand the risk posed to communities when such work is not completed.
Protesters were angered over Elon Musk’s statements and tone earlier this week in that he took some sort of pleasure in shutting Federal agencies. He erroneously implied that since Federal workers were unelected and as part of a bureaucracy they were therefore a threat to democracy.
But this statement went to the core of how misinformed Elon Musk is about the role of Federal workers and the competitive hiring process they undergo to get hired. There has never been any criteria for Federal workers to be elected for public service. There has never been a role Federal workers take in sharing power between the three branches of government. Federal workers have always been nonpartisan and under the Hatch Act may not take part in pubic campaigns for candidates running for public office.
There was no property damage or arrests reported.
