On Monday, a group of Senate and House Democrats rallied a mob of supporters outside the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) before an attempt to infiltrate the building.
“As you probably saw, Elon Musk and his crew put a gag order on A.I.D. employees. They disconnected them from email, which is putting lives at risk around the world,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), said to the mob. “So we are here to enter the building. And so we can hear firsthand from whoever is here at AID, or at least witness firsthand what is happening with this Elon Musk attempted takeover, which will not stand.”
“We will prevail!” he continued. “Let's go.”
Democrats lead a mob of protestors into the USAID headquarters.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 3, 2025
Looks kinda insurrectionyyy to me… pic.twitter.com/yN56aVqfLv
They were, however, unsuccessful. Unlike the Capitol riot, when Capitol Police let rioters into the building, security did not let the mob into USAID HQ.
“A group of Senate and House Democrats were blocked from entering the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday,” The Hill reported. “The Democratic lawmakers, who are opposed to President Trump’s efforts to shut down the agency, left without incident after a brief exchange with security officials. The group, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), were [sic] told the front office of the administrator of USAID was not available to meet.”
A select group of USAID employees with the front office administrator were in the office Monday, an official told lawmakers outside the doors, but were not free to meet with the lawmakers.
“Underwhelming,” one Democratic lawmaker said about being blocked from entering.
The USAID website went dark over the weekend, as information was moved to the State Department’s website and employees were told to telework.
The events on Monday added to chaos and uncertainty surrounding the agency’s operations since Trump issued a freeze on all U.S. foreign aid two weeks earlier, stop-work orders for USAID grant recipients, and laid off and furloughed staff.
According to Van Hollen, Democrats in Congress are pursuing legal action to block the Trump administration, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from dismantling USAID. “We’re working with lawyers to try and get an injunction,” he said.
Meanwhile, Democrats are throwing a fit over their favorite slush fund finally being reined in. “What Trump and Musk have done is not only wrong, it’s illegal,” claimed Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), insisting that “USAID was established by an act of Congress, and it can only be disbanded by an act of Congress.”
Democrats have singled out Musk for particular outrage. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) accused him of being part of an “unelected billionaire class trying to take over our government,” while Van Hollen claimed that the move was an “illegal power grab by someone who contributed $267 million to the Trump” campaign.
In response, Van Hollen and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) vowed to obstruct Trump’s nominees requiring Senate confirmation for as long as USAID remains under threat. “We’re all in this together,” Van Hollen declared.
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