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11 Arrested at DC Office Demanding Schumer 'Stand With Working People'
"Instead of standing with young and everyday people, Schumer is compromising on our lives and futures," said an 18-year-old who was arrested at the protest.
Mar 14, 2025
Protesters were arrested at U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's Washington, D.C. office Friday morning while opposing the New York Democrat's plan to help congressional Republicans prevent a government shutdown with a stopgap funding measure that critics warn will further empower President Donald Trump and his billionaire allies, including Elon Musk.
The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led campaign to fight the climate emergency and create green jobs, said 11 protesters were arrested while urging the Schumer not to help the GOP advance the House-approved continuing resolution (CR). Although Republicans have a Senate majority, it is too slim to force final votes on most legislation without Democratic support.
"If Schumer prioritizes deal-making with Trump and Musk over standing up for the people, he is unfit to lead."
"Schumer must stand with working people and young people, not billionaires. This budget is a corrupt giveaway that sells out everyday Americans and our planet to Trump and Musk's greed. If Schumer prioritizes deal-making with Trump and Musk over standing up for the people, he is unfit to lead," Sunrise executive director Aru Shiney-Ajay said in a statement.
"We demand courage, not cowardice," she added. "This is bigger than politics. It's about protecting our communities, our democracy, and our planet from corruption and corporate greed. Schumer must fight back—now."
The protesters carried banners and signs with messages that included, "Schumer: Step Up or Step Aside," "Schumer: Don't Be a Coward," and "Our Future Is on Fire, Act Like It Is." The protesters echoed those messages.
"Instead of standing with young and everyday people, Schumer is compromising on our lives and futures," said 18-year-old Carly Bryant, who was arrested outside his office. "This bill guts services that working people like me need, just to make the rich richer. If Schumer won't step up and fight for us, he needs to step aside."
D.C. resident Ayesha Nagaria also accused Schumer of siding with Trump and "his billionaire agenda instead of communities across the country and in this city." The 22-year-old stressed that "the people of D.C. cannot afford to have our education and healthcare systems shut down, and Schumer is turning his back on us. If he won't have a backbone and stand up for us, we need to stand up for ourselves."
The GOP push to pass the CR before a shutdown begins at midnight comes as Trump and his billionaires—from Cabinet leaders to Musk, head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—are gutting the federal government. Although they are running into some roadblocks in court, the administration is also showing its willingness to ignore judges' orders. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are aiming to give the rich tax cuts by slashing programs for the working class.
Protesters who gathered at Schumer's home in New York City Friday morning shared similar messages, holding signs that said, "People Over Billionaires," "Schumer, Vote No or Go," and "Schumer: Do Not Comply in Advance, Say No to Cloture."
"I Wish AOC Was My Senator," read one sign, a reference to growing calls for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to launch a primary challenge against Schumer. She has been a leading critic of his plan to vote for cloture, or to end debate.
While Ocasio-Cortez is a leading progressive, intense criticism of Schumer's position—that preventing a shutdown with this CR is the best of various bad options—is coming from across the "big tent" of the Democratic Party, including its House leaders.
The demonstration at Schumer's Brooklyn residence was organized by a local arm of the progressive group Indivisible.
The protest was "a testament to how many people are upset," Indivisible Brooklyn organizer Lisa Raymond-Tolan toldSalon, noting that hundreds of people "came out at 8 o'clock in the morning on a weekday to let the senator know that he is off course and capitulating to fascism—and we won't stand for it."
"He is not the leader for this moment," Raymond-Tolan told the crowd, according to Salon. "We need him to fight back or get the fuck out."
So far, in the Senate Democratic Caucus, only Schumer and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) had publicly made clear that they intend to vote "yes" on cloture, though Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is also widely expected to, after she was overheard "speaking quite loudly" against a shutdown during a Thursday lunch with colleagues.
Whatever happens with the CR and looming shutdown, there is now a movement to oust Schumer from Democratic Party leadership—and as of Friday it includes the "Pass the Torch" campaign that pressured former President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 contest.
"Chuck Schumer is unwilling and unable to meet the moment. His sole job is to fight MAGA's fascist takeover of our democracy—instead, he's directly enabling it," said Pass the Torch. "Americans desperately need a real opposition party to stand up to Trump. It's clear that will not happen as long as Schumer remains in charge of Senate Democrats. It's time to 'chuck' Schumer out. Chuck Schumer must resign as minority leader and make way for leaders who will actually fight for the American people."
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'Nothing Short of Fiscal Sabotage': GOP Spending Bill Would Blow $1 Billion Hole in DC Budget
One D.C.-based observer accused the GOP of "attempting to casually cut the budget of a major city simply because they hate us and they can."
Mar 12, 2025
The government spending bill passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday that aims to avert a government shutdown would effectively cut Washington, D.C.'s budget by almost $1.1 billion dollars, a move that city leaders warned would be devastating for city services, schools, and more.
"The proposed one billion [dollar] cut to D.C.'s budget is senseless, reckless, and would have devastating consequences for our nation’s capital," a spokeswoman for Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office said in a statement that was sent to multiple outlets.
The dilemma stems from the fact that Congress has the final word over D.C.'s budget.
The Republican spending bill is a continuing resolution and largely freezes federal spending at levels approved in the prior fiscal year, with $13 billion in cuts to non-military spending. Generally, Congress includes language in the continuing resolution that allows D.C. to spend its locally generated revenue at spending levels it has separately approved, but did not include that provision this time. In 2024, D.C. passed a 2025 budget of $21 billion, funded largely with local tax revenues.
"Republicans opted instead to treat D.C. the same as a federal agency, freezing funds and thus forcing the city to revert to its fiscal year 2024 budget—even as the city has been operating under its larger fiscal year 2025 budget since last October," explained the local D.C. outlet The 51st.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) released a statement Monday blasting the text of the bill.
"With this bill, House Republicans have intentionally committed nothing short of fiscal sabotage against D.C.," said Norton. "D.C. has not been treated as a federal agency for funding purposes in more than 20 years precisely because doing so can force dramatic overnight cuts to essential services, including police, sanitation, and schools. Cuts to these services would work against Republicans' stated goal of improving public safety and order in D.C."
A memo from D.C. officials explains that reducing local spending by over $1 billion would force a 16% cut to all remaining funds that are not expended. A cut that large would result in layoffs of direct services workers and a reduction or elimination of direct services, per the memo.
The Washington Post reported that it's hard to predict exactly how the cuts will play out, but budget officials believe the reduction could cause $200 million in cuts to D.C. Public Schools and $166 million in cuts to charter schools.
D.C. Water, which distributes drinking water and provides regional wastewater treatment services, could see $51 million in cuts.
"The federal government saves no money from reducing D.C.'s locally funded expenditures," according to the memo from the District, which also noted that the cuts could cause D.C.'s bond rating to be downgraded.
"This is all completely pointless," wrote one observer on X. "There should not be a single vote in Congress in favor of these catastrophic cuts."
Another D.C. resident shared the Post's story and wrote the GOP is "attempting to casually cut the budget of a major city simply because they hate us and they can."
The spending bill now heads to the Senate. Democrats can try to block the measure, though that carries the risk of being blamed for a government shutdown, which would go into effect if no spending bill is passed by Friday.
"Big vote upcoming for Senate Democrats," wrote Post reporter Jeff Stein on Wednesday. "The Trump administration is asserting massive new powers to control federal spending unilaterally, and many Dems view the shutdown bill as their only possible point of leverage. We'll see what they do soon."
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Musk Slammed for Claiming It's Unlawful to Publicly Identify DOGE Personnel
"It's illegal to publish the names of government workers? What???" remarked one Capitol Hill reporter.
Feb 04, 2025
Self-described " free speech absolutist" Elon Musk—the billionaire leading U.S. President Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency—claimed this week that revealing the names of people working for DOGE is somehow illegal, provoking swift backlash from journalists and experts.
Responding to Musk's Tuesday morning post on X, the social media platform the billionaire bought in 2022, Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein challenged the claim that identifying individuals working for the government is unlawful and highlighted his hypocrisy.
"It's illegal to publish the names of government workers?" Stein wrote in part. "What???"
Trump announced DOGE and its leadership shortly after he won the November election, boosted by over a quarter-billion dollars from Musk, the richest person on Earth. After the president returned to the White House for a second term last month, the Musk-led presidential advisory commission quickly got to work on its agenda of cutting spending and regulations, amid a flurry of lawsuits.
The legal battles continue. On Monday, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the Service Employees International Union sued to revoke Musk and DOGE's access to a key government payment system, provided by Trump's treasury secretary. Wiredreported Tuesday that two federal employees "are seeking a temporary restraining order as part of a class action lawsuit accusing a group of Elon Musk's associates of allegedly operating an illegally connected server from the fifth floor of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) headquarters."
Wired on Sunday also "identified six young men—all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records—who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles" in DOGE. The reporting named the following individuals: Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran.
"The six men are one part of the broader project of Musk allies assuming key government positions," the outlet continued, explaining that "Musk's lackeys—including more senior staff from xAI, Tesla, and the Boring Company—have taken control of" the General Services Administration (GSA), OPM, and the Treasury payment system.
After a now-suspended X user shared those six names on the platform—describing them as "techies on the ground helping Musk gaining and using access to the U.S. Treasury payment system," and suggesting that fired FBI agents may want to "dox them and maybe pay them a visit"—Musk responded early Monday, saying, "You have committed a crime."
Cliff Lampe, professor of information and associate dean for the School of Information at the University of Michigan, toldForbes on Tuesday that "doxxing has a broad definition, but is typically described as releasing private details about an individual into the public, specifically with the purpose of harming that person, where harm can range from embarrassment to promoting violent action against the individual."
"Typically, government employees have less privacy protections than do private citizens. Listing individuals who are working on behalf of the government would not fall into previous definitions of doxxing, though of course definitions can always change over time," Lampe said. "Whether doxxing is a crime has traditionally been related to the type of information that has been released and how that information was acquired."
Late Monday morning, Ed Martin, U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, posted on X a letter to Musk that says in part: "I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws."
Forbes noted that one legal expert said he couldn't understand "what on Earth Musk or the U.S. attorney" thinks was violated.
Less than 10 minutes after Martin's post, Musk said on X Monday morning: "Time to confess: Media reports saying that DOGE has some of world's best software engineers are in fact true."
However, as the Daily Beastdetailed Monday, "he was wrong—not all the group are even 'software engineers.' Three do not even have degrees. And one who does is trying to cash in on his new job by charging people to read his Substack entry which boasts, 'Why DOGE: Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America.'"
In a Monday evening statement on the official X account for Martin's office, the U.S. attorney signaled that legal action may be coming.
"Our initial review of the evidence presented to us indicates that certain individuals and/or groups have committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting DOGE employees," Martin said. "We are in contact with the FBI and other law enforcement partners to proceed rapidly. We also have our prosecutors preparing."
Musk then returned to his claim of illegal behavior. After businessman and software engineer Marc Andreessen said on X late Monday, "I'm so old, I remember when doxxing and threatening federal employees was considered bad," the DOGE leader replied Tuesday, "It is against the law."
Stein wasn't alone in calling out Musk's Tuesday morning post. White House speechwriter-turned-podcaster Jon Favreau said: "Threatening anyone: very bad, possibly against the law depending on the threat. Knowing the names of the people who work for us, the American taxpayers, is an entirely legal and appropriate expectation. This isn't one of your companies. This is our government. Understand?"
Chris Anderson, chair of the Democratic Party in Ohio's Mahoning County,
responded: "Imagine being in charge of auditing the government and knowing so little about the government that you don't know that salaries of federal employees, what department they work for, and yes, their names, are all public record. And not only that, THERE'S AN ENTIRE WEBSITE FOR IT."
In fact, there are multiple: the Library of Congress has a
webpage that details sources for federal employee data and there are some nongovernment sites that compile it, such as FederalPay.org, GovSalaries.com, and OpenPayrolls.com.
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