Federal employees staged large protests over the weekend after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced plans to shut down 47 Social Security Administration offices across the country.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, over a hundred demonstrators gathered outside a federal building, frustrated not only with the Social Security cuts but also with Musk’s proposals to privatize the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak.
Tonya Freeman, president of the local postal workers’ union, addressed the crowd, declaring, “The post office belongs to the people, not Trump or Elon Musk,” according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
North Carolina is set to lose four Social Security offices, leaving some residents in the hurricane-hit Smoky Mountains with a 68-mile trip to the nearest office.
The Smoky Mountain News reported that no public transportation is available to help residents reach these offices, creating significant hardship.
This disruption is happening nationwide as DOGE rapidly cancels leases and cuts staff.
Some closures are directly affecting key government functions, like the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Corpus Christi, Texas, which handles human smuggling, drug trafficking, and immigration cases at the southern border.
These cuts are part of broader reductions across the federal government that have impacted tens of thousands of Americans, including veterans and MAGA supporters.
Protesters acknowledged that some government waste exists but argued that Musk’s aggressive cuts are damaging essential services rather than fixing inefficiencies. Heather Hughes, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3509, criticized the approach.
“You don’t solve weight problems by amputating your legs,” Hughes said, according to the News & Observer. “You figure out how to cut waste without destroying everything else.”
Protesters held signs calling Musk a “terrible president” and demanding he “stop the war on America’s workforce.” Hughes also noted that some MAGA supporters have been harassing Social Security workers.
“We have people calling Social Security offices for help and then telling the workers, ‘I can’t wait till you get fired,’” Hughes said. “You’re asking for help from the same person you want to lose their job?”
Protests also took place outside Tesla dealerships in the U.S., Canada, and London. In Chicago, signs read, “Launch Musk to Mars” and “Democracy Dies with DOGE,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Protesters were reportedly zip-tied by police during a demonstration in New York City.
Denise Poloyac, a board member of Indivisible Chicago, accused Musk of exploiting the government for personal gain.
“They’re cutting essential services that people rely on,” Poloyac told the Tribune. “He’s enriching himself and his friends at the expense of the American people.”
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