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.
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.
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.
