Democrats Have Power and It’s Time to Act Like It, Says Congressman Greg Casar

House Democrats "need to stand united against Elon Musk” and refuse to help the GOP pass budget bills until “Musk is held accountable for his crimes,” Casar told Jezebel. “Democrats actually have a lot of power to start righting the ship.”

By Kylie Cheung  |  February 7, 2025 | 12:37pm
Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images Politics
Democrats Have Power and It’s Time to Act Like It, Says Congressman Greg Casar

Over the last two weeks, unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his Gen Z wrecking crew, “DOGE” (the Department of Government Efficiency), have been carrying out the world’s stupidest coup d’etat, illegally gutting federal agencies, accessing highly sensitive citizen data, and forcing out key federal workers. Despite murmurs about disapproval of Musk among other Trump cronies, the administration is largely standing by him, daring Democrats or courts to stop this operation to—as Musk put it on Monday—eliminate all federal regulations and programs.

After sitting back quietly while Musk seized control of USAID and Treasury last weekend, Democrats finally began waking up this week. “Elon Musk is a terrible president,” Gov. Tim Walz tweeted on Monday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) went on CNN to say that Trump “does not have the unilateral power” to shutter USAID, “especially through an unelected official like Mr. Musk.” House Democrats then tried (but failed) to subpoena Musk on Wednesday.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), the new chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), is now calling for Trump—and the country writ large—to fire Musk, and held a press conference on Thursday warning against the threat Musk poses to democracy. Later that day, private security guards apparently employed by DOGE shut Democratic members of Congress out of a federal building. In an interview with Jezebel, Casar stressed that firing Musk isn’t just a pithy slogan. “This is not a business-as-usual moment,” he said. “Musk is trying to treat our government, our money, our social security, our healthcare, like it’s one of his tech startups that he can just shred and sell off for parts for his own benefit.” 

Musk’s illegal capture of the government is alarming, but Democrats aren’t powerless—and can’t act like they are, Casar said. Some Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-Del.), said this week they’ll block all Trump nominees over Musk’s unlawful misconduct and treatment of federal employees. And in the House, Casar says Democrats can take similar action and flex their procedural power: “Republicans have a very small margin—depending on the day, one or three. Democrats need to stand united against Elon Musk running the show, say, ‘We’re not going to cast a vote for Republican reconciliation bills and budget bills if they don’t hold Elon Musk accountable for his crimes.’ Democrats actually have a lot of power to start righting the ship.”

“Republicans, in my entire time in Congress, have never been able to come together and even pass a budget,” Casar said. “They are going to come crawling to Democrats for help, and as Democrats, we need to be very clear that we can no longer allow a completely unaccountable, corrupt billionaire to run the entire government and all of our money.”

Over the last three weeks, top Democrats have faced deserved criticism over the lacking urgency in their response to Musk and Trump’s total hatchet job to the federal government. Instead of tangible actions, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spent this past weekend tweeting about egg prices and telling reporters he’s simply waiting for Trump to “screw up” on his own. Over this past week, as Democratic leaders have spoken at different protests of Musk and DOGE across D.C., they’ve faced increasingly hostile members of their own base, chanting at them to “Do your job!”

“I think it’s good that people are outraged at what’s happening,” Casar said when asked about these frustrated reactions from the public. “I want to make very clear that elected leaders should be the ones to lead, and yes, people should organize and push [us], but they also deserve to see us organizing ourselves and holding ourselves accountable.”

These are tough fights, Casar conceded, but he also stressed that the party has beat bad odds before, citing the summer of protests in 2017 that ultimately allowed Democrats to defeat GOP attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act despite Republicans’ stronger numbers. Congressional Democrats won through their unity, and also by working alongside the public to pressure enough vulnerable Republicans. “We’ve got to stay united, and target those vulnerable Republicans, today.”

Casar, a former labor organizer who also served on the city council of Austin, Texas, won his second term in November. In December, he ran unopposed for CPC chair. In an interview with NBC News at the time, he articulated his vision for the party, urging Democrats to embrace and center progressive economic values in their platform “without throwing vulnerable people under the bus.”

“When we hear Republicans attacking queer Americans again, I think the progressive response needs to be that a trans person didn’t deny your health insurance claim, a big corporation did—with Republican help,” he told NBC. “We need to connect the dots for people that the Republican Party obsession with these culture war issues is driven by Republicans’ desire to distract voters and have them look away while Republicans pick their pocket.”

As Democrats face a major test in whether they can successfully challenge Musk’s coup, Casar says the case for firing Elon Musk is simple: “Today, we have the richest man in the world who now has access to the private information of millions of Americans, the money of millions of Americans, and is using it to continue to enrich himself. That’s the core of government corruption.” Casar pointed out that Musk’s net worth skyrocketed from $264 billion to $447 billion within a month of Trump winning the election. 

“Firing Musk,” Casar says, has to be an existential fight for his party, and there’s no excuse to not meet the moment. “After the election, a lot of Democrats needed some time to soul-search and grieve. But now that time is over, and we have to get back into the ring.”

 
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