On February 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirmed the arrival of Elon Musk’s team, prompting employees to film the encounter and confront them about their credentials. As Musk’s associates dismantle government programs and access sensitive data, federal workers are resisting through protests, lawsuits, and joining unions. Many have stepped down or faced retribution for refusing orders, like an E.E.O.C. judge who opposed unlawful mandates. Workers are vocalizing dissent in various ways, including encrypted chats and Slack channels, aiming to unify against Musk’s actions amid broader discontent with the Trump administration’s strategies, which have marginalized federal employees’ rights.
On February 7, as whispers circulated within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about Elon Musk’s team entering their premises, federal employees whipped out their phones.
On high alert, they recorded unidentified young men from the group known as the Department of Government Efficiency being escorted by security through the glass doors of their downtown Washington headquarters. They called out greetings from a distance and attempted to capture photos of their faces. Once inside, one agency worker even confronted them in a conference room, insisting to see their credentials, according to a report to The New York Times. One aide from Musk’s team shielded his ID badge with his laptop.
As Mr. Musk and his team have quickly navigated government agencies, dismantling initiatives and gaining access to sensitive databases, some federal employees are pushing back — utilizing whatever resources they can to resist directives from the world’s wealthiest man, publicly and privately.
They have resigned from their positions and filed over two dozen lawsuits. They have organized protests outside federal buildings that Mr. Musk’s aides have infiltrated and have joined federal worker unions in large numbers. They have sent emails to hundreds of colleagues, denouncing the new administration at personal cost to their livelihoods and careers. They have set up encrypted Signal chats, Zoom meetings, and Instagram accounts to exchange information and plan future actions.
During one video call with a representative of Mr. Musk’s team, civil servants at the technology branch of the General Services Administration inundated an online chat with spoon emojis to vocalize their dissatisfaction with a deferred resignation offer dubbed the “fork in the road.” (In response, their superiors removed spoon emojis from the list of searchable emojis on their videoconferencing platform.)
“People are angry, they are frustrated, they are upset,” stated Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union. “These are very patriotic individuals who genuinely care.”
Thus far, President Trump and his administration have largely overpowered the opposition. Newly appointed Trump officials have initiated the termination of most of the 200,000 federal employees on probation, with plans for what the president has characterized as “large scale” cuts. The administration has exploited creative loopholes to continue restricting government spending, despite court orders putting those efforts on hold. Additionally, Mr. Musk has spread misinformation regarding the operations of the federal bureaucracy.
“Anyone who believes protests, lawsuits, and legal battles will dissuade President Trump must have been living under a rock for the past several years,” remarked White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, in a statement.
Democrats have struggled to formulate a strategy to counterattack, still reeling from a significant defeat in November that handed the White House and both chambers of Congress to Republicans.
By uniting, federal workers aspire to spark a broader movement. Generally, more Americans have voiced disapproval than approval of Mr. Musk’s dealings with the federal government, although approximately 16 percent remain undecided or did not provide an opinion, as found in a recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
“I want my colleagues who still have jobs to hang in there,” said Hanna Hickman, a former attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who was laid off this month and now hopes that union lawsuits will thwart a complete shutdown of the agency. “I’m out of a job, but hopefully they aren’t, and it’s essential for people to recognize that some will fight back.”
The resistance has not come without risks, as some federal officials who have refused to follow orders have felt the need to resign, including most recently a wave of prosecutors from the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, as well as the acting chief of the Social Security Administration.
The White House has also constrained federal workers’ ability to resist by disrupting many of the channels they previously used to address grievances. Mr. Trump has dismissed 19 inspectors general, attempted to remove the chairwoman of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which protects civil servants from unwarranted disciplinary actions, and ousted the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency tasked with safeguarding government whistleblowers.
“It’s a deterrent to lawful whistle-blowing,” remarked Mark Zaid, a lawyer representing individuals who report wrongdoing within the government. “The tragic irony is that it’s prompting people to violate the law and leak classified information because the system is no longer functioning.”
One agency targeted by Mr. Trump is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which defends federal workers against discrimination and enforces federal anti-discrimination laws in the private sector.
Last month, a supervisor in the agency’s New York District Office sent an email to several administrative judges directing them to compile a list of all cases related to L.G.B.T.Q. discrimination in response to the president’s executive order declaring that the United States will only recognize two sexes. The supervisor stipulated that no orders could be executed in those cases without prior review by headquarters, according to a copy of the message obtained by The Times.
Karen Ortiz, one of the judges, replied by emailing the entire office, approximately 185 individuals, under the subject line “THIS IS NOT NORMAL.”
“Please RESIST. DO NOT COMPLY WITH THEIR ILLEGAL MANDATES,” she urged, referring to Mr. Trump’s executive order. “It’s time for us to embody the civil rights mission we were hired to uphold and honor our constitutional oath.”
To her astonishment, her message yielded no response. She soon discovered that the email had been erased from her inbox — along with those of her colleagues.
Ms. Ortiz followed up with a message to the entire agency requesting the resignation of the E.E.O.C.’s acting chair. At that point, she stated, her email capabilities were disabled. She is still employed, but has sought legal counsel.
Ms. Ortiz expressed no regrets.
“The uncertainty was less frightening than being complicit and remaining silent,” Ms. Ortiz shared in an interview with The Times. “I can survive on cornflakes and community at the end of the day if it means my integrity is intact.”
The E.E.O.C. stated in a message that it had a “longstanding policy prohibiting unauthorized all-employee emails.” The acting chair, Andrea Lucas, asserted that the commission “will fully comply with the president’s executive orders, including the ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ order.”
Some civil servants have also transformed Slack, the workplace messaging app, into a tool for resistance.
The Slack channel of the Technology Transformation Services — the tech-centric branch of the General Services Administration — has recently become a platform for protest as employees have resisted the actions of the Trump administration.
This week, one T.T.S. employee utilized the channel to announce his resignation. The reason: He stated he had been asked to provide Thomas Shedd, the newly appointed head of the group, access to the Notify.gov database, which federal and state agencies use to send text notifications to the public about services.
The employee expressed that he viewed this as a breach of his responsibilities, adding that he believed allowing Mr. Shedd such access could compromise the personal information of Americans, including their phone numbers, according to a message viewed by The Times and reported earlier by the technology news site 404 Media.
His resignation prompted a backlash within the internal T.T.S. Slack channel, as per messages seen by The Times. Mr. Shedd responded by stating he had requested access to Notify.gov to “ensure I have a thorough understanding of how the systems operate.” He affirmed that he did not possess administrative access “at this time” to the text database and expressed disappointment over the leaks of communications.
Will Powell, a spokesperson for the General Services Administration, stated that “Mr. Shedd is collaborating with all relevant G.S.A. officials to guarantee that all established G.S.A. protocols and policies are adhered to before he is granted access to a T.T.S. system.”
Others throughout the government have discovered ways to express their dissent internally.
Last week, employees in a White House technology office, rebranded as Mr. Musk’s cost-efficiency operation, noted that a sign reading “HATE HAS NO HOME HERE” that they had displayed in a window facing Lafayette Park had been removed, as informed by two individuals familiar with the matter. In retaliation, they printed additional signs and re-hung them — some of which later vanished again.
At the beleaguered U.S. Agency for International Development, a senior official last month countermanded an order that had placed dozens of staff members on administrative leave, restoring them to active service. “I wish you all the best,” wrote Nick Gottlieb, the agency’s director of employee and labor relations, in an email to them. “You do not deserve this.” Shortly after, Mr. Gottlieb was put on leave himself. He has not responded to requests for comment.
At the F.B.I., the leading agent in its New York field office informed his staff in an email that they were in “the middle of a battle” as Mr. Trump targeted officials involved in the investigations into the January 6 attack.
Rank-and-file civil servants have reacted to Mr. Musk’s incursion by seeking the protections of unions. The American Federation of Government Employees reported gaining more than 20,000 members since January 1, a significant increase compared to previous years. (In all of 2024, the union noted it had added roughly 7,400 members.)
This month, hundreds of federal employees rallied outside the Capitol, expressing their frustration toward Mr. Musk with signs stating “Fork Off, Elon” and “Launch Musk Into Orbit.” Others have gathered outside the headquarters of U.S.A.I.D. and the Office of Personnel Management. On Monday, thousands nationwide participated in Presidents’ Day marches in state capitals, including Austin, Texas; Atlanta; Lansing, Mich.; and Sacramento, Calif.
“We are accustomed to being the punching bags of Congress,” commented Chris Dols, a dredging expert at the Army Corps of Engineers and participant in protests, speaking in his role as president of a local chapter of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. “But we are finished being props.”
Kate Conger, Edward Wong and Ruth Igielnik contributed reporting. Kirsten Noyes and Kitty Bennett contributed research.