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Grassroots & Progressive Democrats Call for Total Blockade of Trump Nominees
Senate Democrats Must Act With Urgency—Now Is the Time to Be a Real Opposition Party and Block Trump’s Nominees Until His Billionaire Takeover Is Stopped
Grassroots progressives are sounding the alarm: Donald Trump and Elon Musk are engineering a corporate coup, handing the levers of government to unelected billionaires. In one of the most blatant power grabs in U.S. history, Musk has taken control of federal agencies and access to Americans’ private financial and social data under the guise of a so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE)—an entity created by executive order with no oversight, no accountability, and no legal authority.
Joseph Geevarghese, Executive Director, Our Revolution, the largest grassroots-funded progressive political organizing group in the United States states, “Let’s be clear: Musk is not a federal employee. He was not appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, or authorized to have any leadership role in government. Yet, under Trump’s orders, Musk is calling the shots—deciding who gets federal funds, raiding classified data, and shuttering agencies established by law. This isn’t governance. It’s a corporate coup."
Despite the ongoing assault on democracy, several Senate Democrats have voted to confirm Trump’s nominees, including fracking CEO Chris Wright for energy secretary. Senators Bennet, Gallego, Hassan, Heinrich, Hickenlooper, King, Luján, and Shaheen supported this nomination, effectively enabling Trump’s billionaire-backed dismantling of public institutions.
Musk’s takeover of the U.S. government has already resulted in chaos and lawlessness:
- Since its inception, DOGE has made attempts to shutter federal agencies, including USAID and the Department of Education, whose existence is codified in law.
- Under Musk’s direction, DOGE staffers have forced their way into federal offices, seized classified information, and barred employees from entering their own workplaces.
- This effort is a Trojan horse for dismantling public institutions and replacing them with private, profit-driven control.
Trump’s blatant collaboration with Musk is an attempt to consolidate billionaire power and dismantle democracy as we know it. This is not efficiency—it’s a coup.
Our Revolution is calling on Senate Democrats to respond with urgency. The Democratic Party must act as a real opposition party by:
- Placing a blanket hold on all Trump nominees. Senate Democrats must vote against every single nominee. Every collaborator who enables Trump’s corporate coup must explain their votes to the public.
- Using every procedural tool available. From quorum calls to blocking unanimous consent, Democrats must bring Senate business to a grinding halt until this coup is reversed.
- Holding Republicans accountable. Trump’s collaboration with Musk is wildly unpopular—Senate Democrats must expose this assault on democracy to the public and demand answers.
This is not the time for silence or half-measures. Grassroots progressives demand bold, decisive action to protect democracy and halt this authoritarian takeover.
Our Revolution will reclaim democracy for the working people of our country by harnessing the transformative energy of the "political revolution." Through supporting a new generation of progressive leaders, empowering millions to fight for progressive change and elevating the political consciousness, Our Revolution will transform American politics to make our political and economic systems once again responsive to the needs of working families. Our Revolution has three intertwined goals: to revitalize American democracy, empower progressive leaders and elevate the political consciousness.
LATEST NEWS
Trump GOP's Tax Plans Mean Pain for Families, Windfalls for the Wealthy
One think tank urged Congress to "create a more equitable federal tax system that raises revenue sufficient to meet the nation's needs and requires wealthy households and corporations to pay their fair share."
Feb 04, 2025
As U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans plot more tax cuts for the rich at the expense of working people, a progressive think tank on Tuesday put out a policy brief detailing how those cuts and price-hiking tariffs would deeply harm working families.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities brief is part of CBPP's "2025 Budget Stakes" series, which also includes documents on potential "painful cuts" for "vulnerable people" and the possible loss of health coverage, food aid, and rental assistance.
"High-income households and profitable corporations would grow even wealthier under Republican proposals for trillions of dollars in new or extended tax cuts," the new report states, "even as Republican proposals for trillions of dollars of cuts to health assistance, food assistance, and other programs would leave more children in poverty, more families without stable housing, and more people without health coverage."
"As a first step, Congress should let the 2017 tax cuts for households with high incomes expire on schedule."
"The major tax law that President Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress enacted in 2017 was heavily skewed to households with high incomes," the brief continues. "It was also expensive, costing $1.9 trillion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office's 2018 estimate. And it failed to deliver the economic gains its backers promised; studies found the benefits didn't 'trickle down' to most workers."
The current debate over taxes in Washington, D.C. is happening not only because Republicans now control the White House and both chambers of Congress, but also because key parts of the GOP's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 expire at the end of this year.
The CBPP brief warns that extending the expiring provisions from what critics called the "GOP Tax Scam" would:
- Do relatively little for households with low or middle incomes;
- Add trillions in debt, much of it to benefit the wealthy;
- Worsen racial inequities; and
- Weaken the nation's ability to fulfill our commitments to seniors and meet national needs and challenges.
The document features a section on the Internal Revenue Service, which explains that "during the 2010s, steep budget cuts imperiled the IRS' ability to serve taxpayers and enforce the nation's tax laws. But funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is helping the IRS dramatically improve its customer service, operate the direct file mechanism so people can file their taxes directly with the IRS for free, and modernize and improve its tax enforcement efforts."
"Those efforts are already paying off in cracking down on tax cheats and ensuring that wealthy people pay more of the taxes they owe," the brief notes. "But Congress has already canceled some of the new enforcement funding, and Republican budget proposals call for repealing the rest."
Although Trump on Monday struck deals with the Canadian and Mexican governments to delay 25% tariffs on goods from the United States' neighboring nations, CBPP also sounded the alarm about Trump's campaign promises regarding the taxes.
"Research shows that the extra costs imposed by these tariffs are passed on to consumers; the tariffs announced February 1 would cost a typical middle-income household around $1,200 per year, according to one estimate," the brief states. "Tariffs can also provoke trade wars, which can harm domestic businesses."
Republican proposals would deliver trillions in tax cuts benefiting high-income households and profitable corporations, while cutting health and food assistance. This would increase poverty, reduce housing stability, and raise prices through new tariffs. www.cbpp.org/research/fed...
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— Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (@centeronbudget.bsky.social) February 4, 2025 at 10:55 AM
The document argues that "instead of extending and expanding costly tax breaks for those who least need help, Congress should create a more equitable federal tax system that raises revenue sufficient to meet the nation's needs and requires wealthy households and corporations to pay their fair share."
"As a first step, Congress should let the 2017 tax cuts for households with high incomes expire on schedule," the brief says. "Congress also should expand the child tax credit, especially for the roughly 17 million children who don't receive the full credit today because their families' incomes are too low, and expand the earned income tax credit for workers not raising children in their home, who now receive little or nothing from the credit."
"In addition, Congress should scale back corporate tax breaks and reduce the special tax breaks enjoyed by very wealthy households that shield their considerable income from taxation," the report concludes. "And Congress should provide the IRS with the funding it needs to enforce the nation's tax laws and better ensure that wealthy people and corporations pay the taxes they legally owe."
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Congressional Office Says Trump Has No Authority to Dismantle USAID
The same day the report was released, billionaire Elon Musk said that he was working to shut down the agency with U.S. President Donald Trump's blessing.
Feb 04, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump does not have the authority to abolish the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to a Congressional Research Service report published Monday, which noted that congressional authorization is needed to "abolish, move, or consolidate" the humanitarian assistance agency.
The report was release the same day that billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped by Trump to help lead his administration's efforts to cut spending and bureaucracy through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE), said he was seeking to shut down the agency, which is known as USAID. Musk, who said he had received Trump's blessing to do so, made the remarks during a live discussion on X.
Also Monday, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had taken over as acting director of the agency.
"Secretary Rubio has also now notified Congress that a review of USAID's foreign assistance activities is underway with an eye towards potential reorganization," according to statement from the State Department.
The Trump administration implemented a 90-day freeze on nearly all foreign aid during its first week, and days later placed dozens of senior USAID staffers on leave. Two top security officials at USAID were removed by the administration over the weekend after they refused representatives with DOGE access to restricted spaces at the agency.
According to the congressional report, the White House can make make structural changes to USAID and to the State Department, such as shifting functions from one agency to the other. However, the administration is supposed to notify and consult "appropriate congressional committees" prior to making changes, and "in the past, administrations have implemented such changes only after this notification."
The report states that some members of Congress had raised concerns over Trump's halting of foreign aid and the administration's removal of USAID officials, and that news of the "administration's actions to subsume USAID into the State Department may deepen such concerns and raise new questions" about the administration's adherence to consultation requirements and use of funds appropriated for USAID.
"Members on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees, in particular, might elect to seek more information about these actions from the administration through congressional hearings, letters, and informal communications," wrote the author of the report.
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Progressives Demand Senate Dems Halt All Trump Confirmations to Combat 'Corporate Coup'
"Trump's blatant collaboration with Musk is an attempt to consolidate billionaire power and dismantle democracy as we know it," said Our Revolution.
Feb 04, 2025
With U.S. President Donald Trump having little to say since he took office about reducing the high cost of living—an issue he has said won him the election—and his billionaire backer Elon Musk making his way through a takeover of numerous federal agencies, progressive organizers on Tuesday demanded that Senate Democrats treat Trump's second term like the "corporate coup" that it is and end all cooperation with the Republican Party.
"Let's be clear: Musk is not a federal employee," said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution. "He was not appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, or authorized to have any leadership role in government. Yet, under Trump's orders, Musk is calling the shots—deciding who gets federal funds, raiding classified data, and shuttering agencies established by law. This isn't governance."
As the head of the Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE), an advisory body Trump established by executive order, Musk has seized control of payment systems that send Social Security and Medicare benefits as well as other payments to millions of Americans; placed officials at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on administrative leave and attempted to shutter the agency; allegedly operated an illegal server at the Office of Personnel Management; and begun considering staff and spending cuts at the Department of Education as Trump prepares an order to close the agency.
Our Revolution called the effort "a Trojan horse for dismantling public institutions and replacing them with private, profit-driven control."
"Trump's blatant collaboration with Musk is an attempt to consolidate billionaire power and dismantle democracy as we know it," said the group. "This is not efficiency—it's a coup."
Echoing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-N.Y.) demand that Democrats in the Senate stop cooperating with the president's right-wing agenda, Our Revolution called out the seven Democratic lawmakers and one Independent—Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)—who voted to confirm Trump's nominee for energy secretary on Monday.
The lawmakers "effectively [enabled] Trump's billionaire-backed dismantling of public institutions," said the group.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) also joined the call in the U.S. House for senators to do "everything in their power to block Trump's Cabinet nominees."
"The Democratic Party must act as a real opposition party," said Our Revolution, calling on senators to:
- Place a blanket hold on all Trump nominees as Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said he plans to on Monday;
- Use every procedural tool available, from quorum calls to blocking unanimous consent, bringing Senate business to a grinding halt until this coup is reversed; and
- Hold Republicans accountable by exposing Trump and Musk's "assault on democracy" to the public and demanding answers.
The group spoke out as New York residents assembled outside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) office in Peekskill, New York, holding signs that read, "Block the coup," and "Musk hijacked America."
Progressive lawmakers and organizers also made their way to the Treasury Department on Tuesday afternoon, attempting to enter the agency and demanding answers about Musk's takeover.
"We need to understand why it is that our Department of Treasury has been broken into, and we need to go ahead and handle the person that decided they were going to have the audacity to go after our information," said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas).
Our Revolution called for Democrats to take "bold, decisive action to protect democracy and halt this authoritarian takeover."
"This is not the time for silence or half-measures," said the group.
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