A huge thank you to our great MA Congressman who on Saturday was here in person to listen to his constituents voice their worries and outrage, as well as more local issues. He is everywhere at once.
Iβm in North Central MA and I donβt know of anything specific, just the effort to call reps and senators as well as the marches. Keeping the pressure on D.C. with calls is important.
CSPAN cut the feed after the press conference but the members of Congress and Senators have entered the main lobby where USAID HQ is located. The door is being blocked by law enforcement.
One would wonder why law enforcement didn't block the illegal entry of Musk's baby-goons. The only logical answer is that the coup has already happened.
Any security personnel that bar a legislator from an organization founded and controlled by the legislature as prescribed by the Constitution need to be prosecuted for carrying out illegal orders. Get their IDs.
@raskin.house.gov Do not leave USAID until you see Musk. No one with authority has sent these employees home and they cannot telework without system access. STAY!
I'm wondering why they don't spray the cop in the face with bear spray, beat him with an American Flag, break the glass and walk in. Seems Trump would be fine with it.
This should have already been done. Sue when blocked take it to supreme court make them side with Trump.. that way we know where they stand on the constitution
So let me get this straight β¦ elected officials who have a legal right to be there are being turned away but non-elected individuals with no business being there get to stay
I didn't bitch about anything, by the way. I pointed out that this guy knows he's wrong, denying sitting US Senators entry to a USG building, but is doing it anyway because "orders".
He is the polar opposite of the Capital Police that tried to keep rioters out.
As does Putin...
However, perhaps I'll not live to see it, but when humanity collectively shouts - "ENOUGH ALREADY!" and it will eventually happen, they'll be back in business...
This is a hostile take over, the people that can do something are stepping aside. I can understand not jumping in for MAGA, but it looks like they said, fuck the rest of us too.
This person who I cannot identify appears to have received a Signal notification on his smart-watch. Not sure it means anything, good/bad/otherwise. Feels like an interesting detail to be cataloged.
True, of course, irony is CBP is in that building. They have a small office for things like Global Entry applications. Other agencies in the building including EPA. I think you are right though.
You may be correct. I can't see it well enough to see. As many times as I have seen FPS officers though, I've never seen them with DHS on uniform, but perhaps I have never seen them with that vest on.
I was watching on YouTube and the Reps and Senators went to an elevator. The rest were stopped to go through the security entrance. (Metal detectors, etc.) It didnβt look like anyone was refused entrance.
That was in the lobby, from what it looks like the offices in the building have officers in front who are halting entrance. Really curious if they get in.
USAID now reports up through State in the chaos of Trump rationalization and Rubio is blasting USAID workers for not allowing the six little DOGE munchkins access to classified USAID data. For any of us who thought Rubio was the least awful of 47s cabinet picks.
thank you. & this clarifies to me about the coverage bc I was OUTRAGED THE ONLINE C-SPAN FEED STOPPED AS THEY ENTERED BUILDING. ONE WONDERS WHY C-SPAN CUT THE COVERAGE.
Alt text: multiple members of Congress stand before a glass wall and a glass door. There is a sign next to the door saying USAID Entrance Only. A man in a Police DHS uniform stands in front of the door blocking their path. There is another man in a Police DHS uniform on the other side of the door.
Anybody familiar with the Reagan Building able to tell us if DHS usually guards it or if thatβs typically Diplomatic Security? Because this goon is DHS and it makes sense that trump would make them his henchmenβbut it may also mean the other law enforcement agencies arenβt totally pro-coup yet
Thank You for posting this, I watched the press conference on YouTube and was very glad so many Democratic House & Senate members were they to shine a light on this illegal action by Musk, & stand up for Americans, more of this PLEASE! @HouseDemocrats @SenateDemocrats
That cop blocking the door is from Homeland Security, which the President controls. But what leverage does Congress have to interfere with DHS officers who are enforcing illegal orders? An emergency resolution to cut budget, or a rapid request for a court injunction? Which would be quicker?
Impeach Trump for this DOGE BS. indict Elon musk, then remove all of Trump's cabinet members and have a new election so we can move on with their lives. We won't have a country if we keep going at this rate. Good Lord Congress, start the process NOW.
We can do chaos, too, but in service to democracy. Though they're inexcusably late to the game, these legislators should hear approving messages from their citizens and encouragement to do more.
Calling on all GOP senators and Congress members:
If our men and women in the Military and intelligence are willing to give up their lives to protect our Constitution, then you in Congress should be willing to give up their damn seat, in the same vein!!!π‘
Alt text: image of the lobby of USAID HQ. Glass doors with signs on them. A cop on a POLICE DHS jacket blocks the door with his thumbs tucked into his vest the way cops do. Several people in street clothes stand in a cluster in front of him, looking concerned.
How can the polic e prevent the highest elected officials in the country from entering a government building???
#ThisIsWhatFascismLooksLike
#ThisIsWhatFascismLooksLike
#ThisIsWhatFascismLooksLike
I'm told a career USAID staffer came down to address the Dems and said the front office of the administrator is too busy and they need to talk to the state dept.
He said there are only a few senior career USAID people still here he. βI donβt know who doge is,β he said.
The front office is too busy. Yeah, right. Every fed office i have worked at, the FO would go out of its way to meet any member of Congress that showed up.
So - Who is working in the "front office of the administrator" Who is "staff" ? Didn't official USAID staff get an email telling them not to come into the office today? So who was the career staffer?
Bullshit. You mean to tell me you have no idea who has been doing mass firings, and installing their own servers at your place of work? Never heard of the term? Havent been paying attention to the news for the last 3 months?
Iβm sure thatβs what he was told to say. Either heβs too scared to tell the truth or heβs a plant by the GOP, hoping to go over to the State department
Yes that makes more sense. Let me guess, the career staffer is just out of high school?
No real career staffer in the Front Office would have behaved that way. We were trained to drop everything and meet any Congressional rep or staffer that visited
I donβt know how this guy meant it but all that *we* know about doge is that itβs musk and a bunch of hitler youth. do these people have official positions and if yes, what are they? what is their task exactly? which permissions and clearances do they have? &c &c
You're right. We don't know doge beyond the shared bios & photos of high school interns who seem to make up the ranks. We could give this official the benefit of the doubt but the comment strikes me as disingenuous.
sounds like a scene from law & order where someone tries to turn the cops away at the door while the burglars are holding their kids hostage in the kitchen.
Sounds like someone is splitting hairs. The front office of the administrator is too busy to talk to members of Congress when their very department is being dismantled by a rogue group? Does that make sense to anyone? Is the administrator not taking calls either?
Americans like video. If congress members are going to protest they need their staffers to record events on their phones like most citizens do when things go sideways. CSPAN isn't the answer.
Everyone should be furious with Pelosi. If a group of civil servants pulled this stunt, the presser remarksβ would not flirt with βif you want to start an agency β¦ β pacifism.
They get to storm the capitol building to try to overturn a lawful election, and we can't even storm an office to protect it from terrorists. We're so cooked.
Thank you for sharing this news. Itβs unbelievable that Elon has any power to keep senators from going into a federal building. Shouldβve just overwhelmed the officer and carried on.
Just like Musk said (reported in NYT yesterday and elsewhere) the plan is to roll the carcass of USAID into the State Department and use it for scraps of power
Dems on the oversight committee and computer security aides should be looking over their shoulders every second they are on the systems. They could be installing backdoors.
We now know Musk ordered the person to deny entry. A sit-in until gaining entry would have been good press. As it is, they look like they caved to Musk and it's all talk.
I hope they actually start obstructing soon because as of now fascism is winning. I'm pro-non violent action. Key word "action"
A lot of people generally prefer politicians who are entertaining over politicians who are effective -& not just people on the right. That's the main reason the far left hates the left more than they hate the far right, & it's why more people don't support Democrats generally. Competence is boring.
Right but why not force them to arrest a member of congress for being somewhere they are legally allowed to be? The optics on that wouldnβt be beneficial?
I agree on principle. But we have a long fight ahead of us. We will need their voices. I don't have much confidence in them right now, but I have to hope they will find their voices and speak up.
Or because a beleaguered USAID staffer, one of the people they're there to support, said effectively, "You'd be better off bugging Marco Rubio about this, there's almost no one here" so they responded appropriately. Why are you trying to make this the fault of the people trying to stop it?
Knock out at least show some backbone.
The capacity to do harm but choosing not to makes a person peaceful.
Being incapable of causing harm means that they are impotent.
they should have asked who gave the cop the order to block entry even to reps and a senator. follow that right up the line and figure out which traitor gave the order. then go on the attack.
It appears some people have responded with the classic "oh yeah what are YOU going to do, HUH?!"
I am not a public servant. I didn't sign up to be one. There are responsibilities associated with that and I'm not up for the task. They *chose* to be, and should be criticized when they don't do enough.
Exactly this. I didn't beg to be the elected representative of the people - these folks did and that comes with responsibility they hear, not me. We expect them to do the job they asked us to give them.
This was THE moment they should have taken action. A cop turning them away is a bit disgusting. That was when they break down the doors. I'm sure Elmo is shaking in his little boots.
Funny they'll let guys not old enough to legally drink enter and take away confidential government data, but our duly elected representatives may not come in.
Donβt these guys have badge numbers? Someone needs to get the badge numbers of every single one of these fucks rn for the neo-nuremberg trials to come
Were there any specifics as to what their next steps would be? I had to be in and out so didnβt hear everything, but I didnβt hear anything more specific than βeverything in our power,β which is something , I suppose, but not very helpful.
Thatβs exactly what I was wondering. Theyβve gotta be Trumpβs most loyal, so it might mean the other law enforcement agencies arenβt totally pro-coup yet
On what grounds are "law enforcement" blocking sitting US senators from entering a government building to protect the illegal activities of people who have no right to be there?
it's like musk is knocking over a liquor store and the cops are pushing back the owner & employees to avoid disturbing him while he stuffs cash into bags
What is also interesting. - DHS are not the folks who usually guard the building. At the end of the feed below you see the guys who usually work security in the buildings. They're pretty low key, and are mostly issuing badges and ushering folks through scanners. They don't .... decision.
Incorrect. DHS Police are responsible for protecting Federal Buildings. Itβs in their mission statement. However, Kristy Noem has incorrectly used them to keep congressional representatives out.
Republicans play the long game. We've known for awhile now that white nationalists have infiltrated our military and police forces. It wasn't by accident
So we are going to have to drag these fascists pigs to the ground in order to stop them from "protecting the law." Literally standing there, protecting a Russian asset, while he rips through our private information and tampers with things he has absolutely NO authority to. FUCK. ELON. UP.
On a lighter note that DHS cop looks like the Bad Guy in Timberlakes movie Reptile. Keep up the Good Trouble MK. Love your writing. Hopefully, your continued scooping of the worthless press gets you some more eyeballs.
This is what I thought. As a public servant (in Australia), if any member of parliament "turned up" at our offices they'd be provided a grand tour and I'd be sent out to get cakes for morning tea.
Imagine being an officer of the law upholding an illegal governmental coup attempt, as well as hindering congress - a co-equal branch of government - from accessing the illegal coup and cybersecurity crime[s] in progress. These officers are now they, themselves, breaking the law.
No dictatorship ever would have worked without plenty of minions 'just following orders'. Give them the perception of 'power' over others and you'll get as many collaborators as you want.
Law enforcement blocking the doors to US Congress people in protection of Elon Musk who is breaking the law in a zillion different ways. Think about how wrong this is. I am proud of them for being there and hope they don't let up.
Ok so FPS (Federal Protective Service) is the agency that provides protection to a lot of US gov buildings and facilities and is an agency of DHS, so that makes sense.
Seems like it's illegal bullshit more than offensive bullshit. Why isn't there a warrant out for Musk's immediate arrest? He and all his little hacker helpers need to be in cells for this stunt, awaiting arraignment.
Exactly. Seems like we have elections to pick people who swear an oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution. I sure would like to see some of that stuff start happening in Congress right now.
You can get a federal court to put out a restraining order or otherwise ban him from these activities, but since this is all in federal grounds, itβs going to be dicey with a complicit DOJ/FBI
No, you're right. Let the whole fucking country go to shit while a billionaire and his demented sidekick do whatever they want while 535 people sit in Congress with their thumbs up their asses and watch it happen. At some point, somebody's going to remember this country has more guns than people.
What is the matter with you? Demanding a warrant is nothing.Asking Congress to do what they actually are doing today for once is necessary . And this will end when people fill the streets of Washington demanding change, because the media and agencies are already captured.
Is there an example of a warrant for someone as high profile as Musk that the DOJ didnβt want arrested at the time? Just trying to figure out how this would work.
Comments
None of us "have to put up" with a damn thing.
Thanks for nothing.
Photo provided to me:
Identify Name and shame all those involved in this
watch on utube under senator van hollen.
this is a hostile takeover.
https://democracyforward.org
https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmatthews.bsky.social/post/3lhbdb4ydqk23
Every one of these guys knows that what they are doing is wrong, but they don't care because they think they're on the winning side.
They are all collaborators.
I don't disagree with you, but 'toothless tiger'
I didn't bitch about anything, by the way. I pointed out that this guy knows he's wrong, denying sitting US Senators entry to a USG building, but is doing it anyway because "orders".
He is the polar opposite of the Capital Police that tried to keep rioters out.
However, perhaps I'll not live to see it, but when humanity collectively shouts - "ENOUGH ALREADY!" and it will eventually happen, they'll be back in business...
USAID IS IRRELEVANT IF OUR DEMOCRACY IS DESTROYED
TRUMP IS LEADING A NAZIS COUP
ALL OF DEMOCRAT CONGRESS NEEDS TO CAMP OUT AT US TREASURY UNTIL COMPUTERS ARE REPROGAMMED BLOCKING MUSK & ALL UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACCESS
The dhSS
You can probably fill in some words after the verbs to make that fit what they're doing here
How does law enforcement ensure they have valid orders?
One thing they are def not doing is enforcing the law; they are enforcing Elonβs whims.
They need to have this explained to them.
#Resist
If our men and women in the Military and intelligence are willing to give up their lives to protect our Constitution, then you in Congress should be willing to give up their damn seat, in the same vein!!!π‘
They're "just following orders".
#ThisIsWhatFascismLooksLike
#ThisIsWhatFascismLooksLike
#ThisIsWhatFascismLooksLike
He said there are only a few senior career USAID people still here he. βI donβt know who doge is,β he said.
Pettifogging lil details...
CHAOS
CHAOS
Bullshit. You mean to tell me you have no idea who has been doing mass firings, and installing their own servers at your place of work? Never heard of the term? Havent been paying attention to the news for the last 3 months?
Sounds vichy to me.
No real career staffer in the Front Office would have behaved that way. We were trained to drop everything and meet any Congressional rep or staffer that visited
Did anyone verify proof of life? Were these staff members threatened with violence?
Watch AOC she breaks this all down.
I can picture Musk shuttering a different agency down every weekend for the next couple of months. He'd revel in it.
And how can it be stopped?
Just like Musk said (reported in NYT yesterday and elsewhere) the plan is to roll the carcass of USAID into the State Department and use it for scraps of power
Ugh, fine?
But there better be more. Constant coverage of ALL the agencies this shit is happening in. Treasury for what Elon is up to.
IDC their excuses. Keep at them.
Get in front of podcasters and reporters.
CONSTANTLY
I hope they actually start obstructing soon because as of now fascism is winning. I'm pro-non violent action. Key word "action"
I mean, yes, we all want that.
The capacity to do harm but choosing not to makes a person peaceful.
Being incapable of causing harm means that they are impotent.
I am not a public servant. I didn't sign up to be one. There are responsibilities associated with that and I'm not up for the task. They *chose* to be, and should be criticized when they don't do enough.
https://youtu.be/VpvyG2NrS1Y?feature=shared
it's like musk is knocking over a liquor store and the cops are pushing back the owner & employees to avoid disturbing him while he stuffs cash into bags
Thank you!