Federal workers storm senate in protest against Musk-led job cuts

A group of federal workers marched through the US Senate, to protest massive job cuts ordered by billionaire Elon Musk on Wednesday.
The demonstrators visited multiple Republican senators, urging them to take action against the workforce reductions, while security personnel followed closely, warning them not to obstruct the halls, reported news agency AFP.
President Donald Trump’s second term has brought sweeping executive orders targeting federal agencies including USAID. Musk, who is spearheading the downsizing, has left many career civil servants uncertain about their futures. Unlike the large-scale protests of Trump’s first term, opposition this time has started with federal employees themselves.
Some employees have resigned instead of accepting Musk’s drastic changes. This week, about a third of technology workers at Musk’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) quit, claiming the restructuring would harm national security. Before leaving, they created a website called “We are the builders” to highlight the damage caused by the cuts.
Protesters have adopted the spoon as a symbol of resistance. This comes from a Musk-led initiative called “Fork in the road,” which gave federal workers a choice: leave with eight months’ pay or risk future dismissal. Employees flooded internal message boards with spoon emojis and added them to their work profiles as a silent act of defiance.
Several lawsuits have been filed against Musk’s actions, with mixed outcomes. The largest federal employee union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), has vowed to fight what it calls “unlawful terminations.”
Musk, however, remains unfazed. He has used his social media platform, X, to mock federal workers and promote polls conducted by his own political group, America PAC, claiming that DOGE is widely supported.