Sen. Elizabeth Warren, accompanied by other members of congress, speaks during a rally against Elon Musk outside the Treasury Department in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and hundreds of protesters and Democratic lawmakers gathered outside the U.S. Treasury on Tuesday evening to protest what they say is Elon Musk’s “hostile takeover” of federal payment systems.
“In the building behind me, Elon Musk is seizing power from the American people. We are here to fight back,” Warren said.
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She accused Musk of buying the presidential election for President Trump and said he is now “here to collect on his investment,” in this case gaining access to the system that “makes sure that your grandpa gets his Social Security check on time.”
The show of protest at the Treasury comes as Democrats in Congress are struggling, as the minority party, to hold Trump’s most controversial actions to account. At the same time, Democrats are coming under fierce pressure from their constituents to do more in the face of unprecedented moves by Trump and his allies in the first weeks of the new administration.
Warren, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Banking Committee, launched a blitz of criticism this week, writing a blistering letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, appearing with other senate leaders in a press conference Monday and leading the protest outside the Treasury on Tuesday.
Still it’s unclear what Democrats can do to roll back Musk’s access to federal payment systems. Republicans so far have not pushed back. NPR reported that Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, voiced some concerns: “I am not sure where the authority of that would come from and it’s my understanding that some of Musk’s assistants have requested access to classified information or may have for which they are not cleared.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, said on MSNBC Wednesday that Democrats in Congress should not approve Trump administration nominees or other measures, amid what he called a “constitutional crisis.”
“We will use every tool at our disposal to try to get this crisis fixed,” he said.
Murphy has cited the administration’s shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development as an illegal seizure of power. Trump maintains he has the right to the actions he has taken.
In a statement Wednesday, the White House press office criticized protest speaker Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver, of New Jersey, of making a “sick threat” and “a call for “violence.” The White House was referring to a part McIver’s speech in which she said, “We are at war.”
Federal unions have sued to block Musk’s team from accessing the Treasury accounts.
