Ocasio-Cortez Denounces Musk-Led Attacks on Agencies as 'A Plutocratic Coup'
"It is important that we continue to signal to one another what we believe, because if we get quiet... then everyone around us is going to think that everyone has given up," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a recent livestream.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York took to social media on Sunday to denounce billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tasked with leading the new administration's effort to slash federal spending and bureaucracy, and is currently working to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.
In response to reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration placed two security chiefs at USAID on leave after their refusal to hand over classified materials to Musk's "government-inspection teams," per The Associated Press, Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday wrote: "This is a five alarm fire. The people elected Donald Trump to be president—not Elon Musk."
"Having an unelected billionaire, with his own foreign debts and motives, raiding U.S. classified information is a grave threat to national security," she continued.
Her remarks were reposted by the venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, who wrote that Ocasio-Cortez is "wrong" and that the real five alarm fire will happen after Musk's team reveals government waste and fraud.
Ocasio-Cortez hit back, casting doubt on the legitimacy of Musk's efforts and writing: "This is a plutocratic coup. If you want the power, run for office and be chosen by the people." The entire exchange took place on the Musk-owned social media platform X.
Musk, a billionaire and GOP megadonor, established himself as a major power player in Trump's orbit even before Trump was inaugurated. In December, Musk sank a bipartisan spending bill, leaving Congress to scramble to come up with a new spending agreement to avert a government shutdown.
But since Trump's return to the White House, Musk's power has only grown as he's moved swiftly to exert influence over levers of power within government. In a day one executive order, Trump established his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, by repurposing an existing entity, the U.S. Digital Service, an agency conceived to help improve the federal government's services through better technology and design. Now called the U.S. DOGE Service, the move "will give centibillionaire Elon Musk and his allies seemingly unprecedented insight across the government, and access to troves of federal data," according to WIRED.
Musk's influence now extends to the General Services Administration as well as the Office of Personnel Management. Representatives from DOGE were also granted access to a sensitive Treasury Department payment system that contains the personal information of every American who receives tax refunds, Medicare, Social Security, and other payments from the government.
Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez has been one of the most vocal members of Congress speaking out about Musk and the Trump administration's actions.
In a livestream on social media shortly after Trump's inauguration, Ocasio-Cortez implored her audience not to take the Trump administration's actions quietly.
"It is important that we continue to signal to one another what we believe, because if we get quiet... then everyone around us is going to think that everyone has given up," said the New York Democrat.
"I want you all to know that you're going to be hearing more from me," she explained. "My responsibility is in trying to explain to you all what is going on as best as I can and leaning into our ability to collectively organize."
