A Falcon 9 rocket is displayed outside the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) headquarters on January 28, 2021 in Hawthorne, California.
Protests targeting Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are growing on Monday, with hundreds gathering at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne over the weekend to voice their opposition to the actions being taken by the Trump administration.
The direct action against Elon Musk at SpaceX World Headquarters was organized by SpaceX Action with the support of Democracy Action Network, Indivisible-Simi, ROAR Resistance, Westside Democratic HQ and the Women's March Foundation.
Protesters carried signs with an array of messages, from putting a stop to DOGE to protecting trans rights to denouncing President Donald Trump and Musk for their policies since taking office in January.
The Department of Government Efficiency was created by executive order by Trump on Jan. 20 and was intended to slash federal spending by cutting federal programs and departments. Through Musk's advisement, thousands of federal workers have been laid off and federal funding for social programs have been frozen.
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“I'm here to protest Elon Musk's takeover of the government,” Nancy Polikoff, 73, from Marina Del Rey told the Daily Breeze on Saturday. “It's already affected people I know that have lost their jobs. I also think his entire purpose is self dealing, so he's going to make sure the agencies that regulate his businesses shut down and he's going to tamper with government contracts to make sure they all come out in his favor.”
In addition to protesting the cuts and funding freezes, critics of Musk claim his private enterprises, such as SpaceX, pose a conflict of interest with his work with DOGE. Musk and his companies receive billions of dollars in government contracts.
Democratic lawmakers are also challenging the cuts Musk is making and questioning if Musk and his DOGE staffers are sharing national secrets over insecure communication channels.
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“There has been so much crazy stuff happening that is anti-democratic and not what I think this country was founded for. We're supposed to be here for immigrants, people of color, and minority groups,” Zachary McKinnon, 31, from Long Beach told the Daily Breeze. “Musk, he's not elected, he's a random billionaire that's basically raiding our taxes and using them to make his own pocket fuller.”
Trump's administration claims the nation is facing $36 trillion in debt and needs to cut federal spending. By creating DOGE, Trump says his administration is finding wasteful spending in federal government agencies.
However, neither Trump nor DOGE has provided any evidence of wasteful spending or fraud in the agencies and programs they have cut.
“We're cutting down the size of government. We have to,” Trump said during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. “We're bloated. We're sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren't doing their job.”
Musk announced plans last year to move the headquarters of SpaceX, the space flight company he founded, to Texas.
More than 50 demonstrations were listed Saturday on the website Tesla Takedown, with more planned later in March in the United States along with England, Spain and Portugal.
News reports showed demonstrations in recent days in U.S. cities including Tucson, Arizona; St. Louis; New York City; Dayton, Ohio; Charlotte; and Palo Alto, California.
A Saturday rally on Crenshaw Boulevard was organized by 5051, Indivisible and Westside Democratic HQ, and one of several across the country at Tesla dealerships and showrooms.
