On March 29, protesters were stationed outside the Stanford Mall Shopping Center Tesla store, expressing frustration against CEO and special government employee (SGE) Elon Musk. The protestors were seen and heard chanting phrases and holding up signs against Musk, expressing anger with his unelected government position.
Musk has recently been chosen by President Donald Trump as an SGE, an officer in the executive branch of the federal government who has a limited amount of time to make changes in the White House. These appointed members are under a strict contract with only having an allied 130 days in office.
Musk’s newest government program, DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, is commonly used to help combat unnecessary federal spending.
One local community member, Chelsea Bartram who works as a particle physicist, was amongst many of the protestors who were concerned with the changes from Musk’s organization, DOGE.
“DOGE is firing all of these scientists at the federal agencies, and as a scientist, we’re just sort of wondering, when will we be next? [F]or example, he fired people at the National Nuclear Security Agency at Livermore. So these are people who are critical for national security. He has also been targeting other scientific institutions, such as the EPA… and so we’re all worried about that,” said Bartram.
Another protester, Joao, who declined to state their last name, was outraged by DOGE’s government plans and feared for his family.
“Everything that’s going on, I find completely unacceptable. We can have political, ideological disagreements, but how we take care of our people, how we take care of the most vulnerable members of our community, how we treat our immigrant neighbors, how we care for our children, and how we invest in our schools. These things should not be negotiable,” shared Joao.
Joao’s father lives on his monthly social security checks; however, recent mistakes in DOGE’s system have sparked fear about the quality of financial protection.
“I read the story of Ned Johnson in Seattle, 82 years old, DOGE pronounced him dead, and he’s still trying to prove that he’s alive, because they made a mistake in the system. They claimed there was fraud and Social Security, and they claimed that he was still receiving his checks after he was dead, except he was totally alive, right? And so this isn’t just like a little clerical error. This is a person’s life,” explained Joao.
One federal employee, who would like to remain anonymous due to job concerns, was especially worried about the impact DOGE’s policies could have on the veterans with whom she works with.
“There are mandates coming from pretty high above about how we do our work that don’t actually apply to the work we do. As a social worker, it’s a mandate to support the population [especially veterans] that I work with, even though many of them don’t really understand the impacts of this on their own futures.”
Additionally, cars passing by honked in agreement and made thumbs-up gestures to show support. On the other hand, some people opposed this view and were honking in retaliation for this protest.
While Musk has left the White House, his new government service, DOGE, remains in office.
One federal worker, who would like to remain anonymous due to job security concerns, has stated that these protests were happening at different Tesla stores throughout the Bay Area, highlighting the unnecessary and unwanted power that Musk has over them and their clear opposition to it.
This protest was certainly eye-catching and noteworthy, as it highlighted certain opinions people are willing to take publicly to persuade or simply get their point across.
