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FEDERAL WORKERS CAN DEFEAT MUSK’S COUP. HERE’S HOW.  
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Eric Blanc
February 10, 2025
Labor Politics
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_ Elon Musk is not invincible _

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Who can stop Elon Musk? Even though it’s illegal for him to seize
control of federal agency finances to slash the workforce, a
Republican Congress is unlikely to assert its legally mandated
prerogatives. Nor has any serious opposition emerged from
the Democratic Party.
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while the courts have paused some of this power grab, there’s no
guarantee that our hyper-conservative Supreme Court will seriously
oppose it. Moreover, Musk’s wrecking crew can impose a huge number
of cuts while legal proceedings wind their way through the courts.

But all is not lost: Musk is actually very vulnerable to popular
backlash. As Jonathan Martin of _Politico_ points out
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Trump is likely to throw Musk’s project to the wolves once it starts
generating too much bad press. If working people can turn the tide of
popular opinion squarely against Musk’s “Department of Government
Efficiency” (DOGE), it’s likely to meet the same fate as the
administration’s unpopular funding freeze
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Escaping this crisis will depend, above all, on the actions of federal
workers.

No matter which lackeys Trump and Musk install at the top of these
agencies, they still ultimately depend on the labor of their
employees. And workers’ resistance has already put a wrench in
Musk’s operations. Refusing to succumb to intimidation, unions of
federal employees have sued to stop Musk. And with union
encouragement, most federal workers have rejected
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so-called buyout scheme through which they would “voluntarily”
resign.

These are important first steps. But it’s going to take a lot more
organizing and pressure from these workers to win.

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE

Wide-scale, attention-grabbing collective actions can drive home to
the public the truth about federal workers and the danger of Musk’s
cuts. Far too many people don’t know crucially important facts about
federal employees and the services they provide:

— Due to Trump’s budget chaos, health clinics across the US have
already been forced to close
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— Musk’s reckless operation threatens enormous numbers of
Americans. Without federal workers at sufficiently funded agencies, no
one in the US would be able to receive benefits such as Social
Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or workplace safety protections, among
many other essential services. Local schools and hospitals all across
the country also depend on federal funding.

— Contrary to right-wing claims about a massively expanded federal
bureaucracy, the percentage of the American workforce working for the
federal government has declined significantly
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the past 25 years.

— Billionaires, not federal employees, are hoarding America’s
wealth: total yearly pay
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all 2.3 million civilian federal employees ($271 billion) is
significantly less than Elon Musk’s personal
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worth of $412 billion.

— Most federal workers are not rich bureaucrats: 43% of federal
workers make less
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$90,000 yearly, and 58.8% make less than $110,000 yearly.

— About 60% of the budget
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paying federal employees goes to the Department of Defense, the
Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Homeland
Security.

— This impacts the whole country: Over 80% of federal employees work
in regions other than Washington D.C.
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LESSONS FROM THE RED STATE REVOLT

How can federal workers win over the public and defeat these attacks
on their jobs and essential services? Their best bet is to replicate
the tactics that made possible the successful 2018 teachers’
strikes
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West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, and beyond.

Through these actions, public-sector workers beat back right-wing
attacks on their profession and won major pay and student funding wins
that affected millions, even though they took place in
Republican-controlled states where unions were weak and public-sector
strikes illegal. Here are the main lessons of their strikes:

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_OVERCOME SCARE TACTICS BY SPEAKING OUT._ Fearing retaliation from
above, most teachers in 2018 were initially scared to make their
voices heard. But a few bold colleagues broke the climate of
intimidation by taking a public stand early on. Nobody was fired or
disciplined. Their early courage created space for countless more to
speak out.

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_ESCALATE YOUR ACTIONS. _Especially because so many workers were
initially scared, the movements grew by taking easy actions that could
involve the largest number of workers. One prominent build-up tactic
was “RedForEd”
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in which everybody — both employees and community supporters —
wore the same color and posted selfies and group photos with messages
about their cause. This generated a huge amount of momentum and showed
the community the human face of a demonized and demeaned workforce.

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_TRY TO GO VIRAL._ The red state strikes were initiated and
coordinated largely over viral Facebook groups
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Worker activists grabbed people’s attention through public actions
and catchy digital content, and they immediately onboarded their
co-workers into organizing similar actions via digital tools. In
person and local organizing was still crucial, but these movements
needed digital tools and a big social media presence to win (and
coordinate) at scale.

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_PERSUADE (AND INVOLVE) THE COMMUNITY._ To seize the attention of the
public and dispel narratives about “privileged, lazy public sector
workers,” these movements understood that the only way for them to
win big was by consistently emphasizing how their work — and their
demands — benefited the larger community. And they consistently
sought to involve community members in their RedForEd days and other
escalating actions.

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_DON’T WAIT FOR TOP UNION LEADERS._ Though unions ended up playing
a crucial role in these movements, the spark and drive came from
self-organized rank-and-file workers. Most top union leaders were too
stuck in legalistic routines to take a lead on risky actions. But once
momentum exploded from below, unions jumped on board and played a key
role in helping workers win.

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_GET DISRUPTIVE IF NECESSARY._ Nobody wants to strike, especially
when doing so could negatively impact community members. But since
Republican legislators continued to refuse to back down, ultimately
educators felt they had to walk out to save their schools. And with
overwhelming popular support, they won big.

BATTLES AHEAD

Obviously, conditions today aren’t identical to 2018. The stakes are
now higher: democracy and the existence of essential nationwide
services are on the line. The fear factor is also currently higher,
though this could change quickly once more workers start speaking
out— after all, it is MAGA cronies who are breaking the law, not
federal employees. It’s possible that a broad and loud enough
worker-public outcry could force Musk and Trump to retreat.

But one key similarity remains: huge numbers of rank-and-file workers
and community members are going to have to start speaking out.

The Federal Unionists Network
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Day of Action [[link removed]] on February 19 to bring
together federal workers and their supporters to take a stand against
Musk’s coup. Everybody can join in. Like the “RedForEd” days of
2018, the main ask on February 19 is simple: wear red, white, and/or
blue and take a selfie with a sign explaining (if you’re a federal
worker) how your work impacts benefits Americans and (if you’re a
community member) how you benefit from federal services. (There will
also be local rallies, you can RSVP here
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Musk’s wrecking crew operation is moving fast, hoping to impose its
draconian scheme before federal workers and the millions of Americans
who oppose their agenda have time to respond. But if large numbers of
federal workers and their allies start taking a stand over the coming
days, they can deliver a serious blow to Trumpism and protect the
essential services upon which all Americans depend.

* Donald Trump
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* Elon Musk
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* Layoffs
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* Federal Services
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* unions
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* contracts
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* Funding freeze
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