‘We Are Here to Fight Back’: Massachusetts Legislators Decry DOGE Access to Treasury

Massachusetts politicians on Tuesday blasted Elon Musk’s moves to slash federal government spending while serving as an unelected official in Donald Trump’s administration.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-7) and Senator Elizabeth A. Warren (D-Mass.) joined hundreds of lawmakers and protesters outside the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday after Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was granted access to the Treasury’s payment system.

“I am so tired of these billionaire boys and their grubby little hands grabbing at everything,” Pressley said during the rally.

DOGE received access to payment data on Jan. 31 from the Department of Treasury, shortly after acting Secretary of Treasury David Lebryk abruptly retired after 35 years in the department.

“Hands off our bodies. Hands off our data. Hands off our tax refunds. Hands off our Social Security checks. Hands off our Constitution. Hands off our democracy. Hands off,” Pressley added.

Pressley called the move to hand over the information “a constitutional crisis,” promising to “match their energy with unprecedented organizing, mobilizing, agitating.”

“And I want to say to our Republican colleagues: pay attention,” she said. “We’re here today in the hopes that you will see the light, but if you do not see the light, we will bring the fire. Resist.”

During a speech at the rally, Warren said that Musk is “here to seize power for himself.”

“Elon Musk wants the power to decide whether or not every road repair in America goes forward, whether or not every Head Start center in America opens, and whether or not every military base anywhere in the world operates according to Elon,” Warren added. “Elon Musk wants everyone in America to be at the mercy of Elon Musk.”

In a Wednesday statement on X, Warren wrote that she “called on” the Treasury Secretary to “answer why and how he gave Elon Musk and his cronies permission to access government payment systems.”

She added that their response — which emphasized that Musk and his team received limited, “read-only” access to the payment system — “raises more questions than answers.”

“Elon Musk is seizing power from the American people,” Warren said at the rally. “We are here to fight back.”

“This is not your trashy Cyber Truck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of,” Pressley added.

“Elon, this is the American people,” she said.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.

—Staff writer Frances Y. Yong can be reached at frances.yong@thecrimson.com.