oOn NA Brightwinter Day this week, a group of protesters squeal fans along a boulevard lined with palm trees in the picturesque city of Palm Desert, while Republican lawmakers slash and slash of Donald Trump and Elon Musk He demanded that Byrne stand up to his efforts. The US government. “You work for us, not for musk!” Read one sign. “Remember your vows,” another warned. A mobile sign circling nearby, featuring the president and billionaire tech magnate, “When he peers into your bank account, you abandon him.”
The group cheered hard as the white Tesla driver lay around the corner. A small number of members attempted to secure a meeting with Congressman Ken Calvert, but found that the doors to his local office were locked and blinds were painted.
“He needs to hear from us, our people,” said Colleen Duffy Smith, 71. The semi-retired trial lawyer and university lecturer got her signature “Eron, who was no one selected.” She claims she was not a “professional activist” but was “called to act” by the real fear that Trump had taken musk by his side and put the country’s democracy at risk of graves. did.
“Given the heinous actions signed daily Sharpies, we must believe that someone has a conscience, with people’s personal freedoms, their civil rights, our social services programs, and overseas assistance. It must,” Duffy Smith said. “And once you start tilting the iceberg, the other people with the right heart follow.”
Progressive activists and officials spent the first week off of the new Trump administration, which pressured Congressional Republicans to gain presidents, musks and their potentially illegal power.
At Tesla dealers and city halls across the country, including solidly conservative corners in Georgia, Wisconsin and Oregon, voters registered warnings for the proposed cuts for Republicans Medicaid. And the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle or completely eliminate federal agencies that Americans rely on for important services.
“They scoff at the Constitution,” says Kathleen Hirsi, 74, who wore a knit pink cat hat, who became a symbol of the anti-Trump resistance movement during their first term in the Palm Desert protest. I did. She carried the same signs she made for a woman’s March eight years ago. Calvert’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
A month after the new Trump administration, the opposition appears to be different from his first term.
But activists say the week of protests shows a growing movement. “A lot of the energy that took place in 2016 and 2020 is really coming back as people feel that they are pretty upset by the mask and Trump’s actions,” says the Working Family Party (WFP) national report. said Lavingra, the official. . “If the threat didn’t feel realistic and urgent at the time of the election or earlier this year, it seems like people are now feeling very urgent.”
The group helped organize several protests this week, including Wednesday’s actions with parents, educators and students at Republican Mike Lawler’s Congressional office in the suburbs of New York.
Some people bravely confronted the frigid temperatures to protest the Trump administration’s proposal to abolish the Department of Education, including Merita Corseli, the mother of four whose children rely on special education services. 38) was there.
“The people who depend on the heaviest people in these services are your labor. People pumping your gas at your town’s gas stations but can hardly afford to live in your town.” She said, and a member of the House of Representatives. “Our children deserve the same education as your children.”
With a few exceptions, Republicans moved quickly to fire critics and federal prosecutors from the government, support democratic alliances, and assert their right to assert Congressional expenditure. Republicans remained silent. And despite the growing backlash, they have largely expressed support for the masked dogs and the goal of eradicating federal waste.
The lawsuit brought by the Democratic Attorney General and the unions and legal groups formed during Trump’s first administration have halted some of the actions taken by the administration and Doge. Congressional Democrats are still upset by their losses in November, but will use all available leverage, including the possibility of government shutdowns, to derail the president’s agenda. It puts pressure on me.
Musk has become something of a supervillain to liberals. Much of this has spent most of the past decade opposed Trump or empowering “resistance.” Doge’s aggressive government cuts – and access to sensitive taxpayer data has sparked lawsuits and nationwide protests, and activists and Democrats coordinate federal government acquisitions “hostile” and “illegal” He accused him of doing so.
“The idea of someone who is not elected, someone who has no obligation to lead, someone who is the wealthiest man on the planet and who is acting unilaterally outside of the normal process is that of a fundamental democracy. I feel deeply separated from our values. In principle, I think it is an alarm in the minds of many people,” Mangra said.
In a joint interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump praised Doge’s efforts, and Musk pulled his critics aside. Musk celebrated with a “Bureaucratic Chainsaw” on stage at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference.
However, new polls suggest that many Americans are less satisfied. A post-IPSOS poll in Washington found that twice as many respondents disapproved for Musk’s approval to close federal agencies he deems unnecessary. Meanwhile, a CNN survey found that 62% of respondents, including 47% of Republicans, believe Trump is not doing enough to address the main concerns of many Americans. I did.
In Georgia this week, Trump supporters understand that it may take some time for the president to lower prices, but still struggle to pay for basic essentials like eggs and milk. I stated.
Democrats feel an opening to guide that frustration.
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In California, former school board member Democrat Christina Gagnier recently raced against Young Kim, a closely monitored Republican lawmaker in the Orange County area. On the campaign trail, Gagnier said he’s heard a lot from business owners and parents who are “buried” by the administration’s threat of imposing tariffs and enacting drastic cuts.
“They feel like they’re not respected,” she said. “These are the real things happening to real people. They’re happening to our neighbors. This isn’t just happening in DC.”
In a statement, Kim’s political consultant Sam said that lawmakers “have deep roots in the community, always looking to meet and listen to her members, fight for the district and deliver results. There is,” he said.
fUry, surrounding Trump and Musk’s actions, has been boiled down not only in the liberal enclaves and house battlefields that presumably determine Congress’ control, but also in the conservative places that supported the president in 2024.
In Georgia, Rep. Rich McCormick might have expected a friendly reception at his severe Republican district town hall. But the House of Representatives faced the furious attendees of Musk’s ruthless approach to Trump’s unfounded claim that Ukraine has launched a war with Russia and the president’s social media, which it compares to Russia and the “king.” I was booed repeatedly and jealous.
“We’re all pissed off about this,” a constituent told McCormick. Another attendee involved in the rejection of hundreds of workers at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, “Why is the Conservative Party likely taking such an extreme, radical and sloppy approach? Will this stay?” he asked.
“I’ve come here to have an argument,” McCormick said as the nervous session approached the end. “I don’t think many of you came here in good faith to have an argument. You yelled at me and came here to boo me.”
Many House Democrats held in-person events to address the impact of government cuts and Republican government funding proposals. On Tuesday night, the town hall, hosted by Virginia Democrat Eugene Vindman, attracted a massive crowd, including federal workers who said they were living in fear that their work would be eliminated next. I did.
Rep. Mark Desolnier, a California Democrat, had planned a second City Hall in light of his “overwhelming reaction” to his first one. And Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said 500 people last week to “cook with your Rep.,” he said, “maybe the most I’ve ever had,” and he said. He said he was present. In Omaha and Iowa, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gathered thousands as part of his “Oligarchy of the Battle” tour.
Sanders hit the road after joining Senate Democrats in an overnight “Voting – Lama” to protest the Republican budget bill. The plan is a blueprint for enacting a key part of the president’s immigration and energy agenda, and received almost party-affiliated votes early Friday morning. But if the house can’t advance Trump’s preference for “one big, beautiful bill” “implementing my full American first agenda,” it remains a backup option.
To pay for the house version, Republican negotiators have recently said they are experiencing social services, a government health insurance program for poor and disabled Americans who have recently said Trump was “untouchable.” We are considering reducing the number of reductions. With only a majority of razors in the house, GOP leaders can hardly afford to escape.
Mathematics, Keely Level, 64, and her dog prudence, hopes to persuade Republican Rep. Calvert to oppose Medicaid, or California’s version of medical cuts, on Palm Desert on Thursday. He joined the protest.
For over 20 years, Rebel has been caring for her husband. My husband suffered a brain injury, leaving him partially paralyzed. Without federal assistance, she is worried.
She fears the country. Midterm elections will not be held until 2026. By then, do you think she will be able to escape the federal government from Trump and Musk’s destruction balls?
“People want to wake up before it’s too late,” she said.
