‘This is an authoritarian regime’: Trump administration locks Congress members out of Department of Education
Members of Congress were denied entry to the Department of Education on February 7 amid fears that Donald Trump and Elon Musk will illegally dismantle the department.
The incident outside the Department of Education is eerily similar to how the dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development began. Shortly after mass layoffs at USAID, entry to the building was abruptly blocked, and 600 employees were locked out of the agency’s computer systems overnight. Staffers and Democratic lawmakers, who had every right to access the building, were blocked from entering. Trump and Musk’s decision to shutter USAID without cause was deemed illegal, especially since they reached the decision without congressional oversight. Now, Americans fear that the Department of Education will be next on Trump and Musk’s hit list.
Trump already indicated a desire to shut down DOE before his inauguration, and recent reports allege he is drafting an Executive Order to do just that. Last week, dozens of DOE employees were suddenly put on administrative leave, and this week, Democratic lawmakers were locked out of the building.
Congress members denied entry to Department of Education
Democratic lawmakers recently tried to arrange an emergency meeting with the DOE to discuss concerns over DOGE’s actions. However, they never heard back from the department, so they went to the building on February 7, only to find locked doors and a member of the Office of Security, Facilities, and Logistics Services standing guard. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Rep. Mark Takano, and Rep. Maxine Waters were among the lawmakers seeking entry. As members of Congress, they have every right to enter the government building. Yet, they were barred entry without explanation.
Frost began filming and posting to X as the incident played out. The members of Congress were not armed or dangerous. They did nothing threatening and simply asked the guard who he worked for and why he denied them entry. However, as they asked these questions, armed federal police officers arrived at the scene. Frost posted videos to X showing the armed officers, writing, “We aren’t dangerous. We are here to represent our people. To defend public education. This is an authoritarian regime. You cannot block members of Congress from entering the Department of Education.” In his videos, he made sure to include the large sign on the window that read “All Access Entrance” and noted he could go into the building last year with no problem. He also pointed out the absurdity of Musk being permitted into the DOE but not lawmakers.
Before being locked out, five senators and representatives penned a letter demanding that Acting U.S. Secretary of Education Denise Carter provide information confirming that vital student programs and student privacy were being maintained. The letter pointed to concerns over the layoffs and Musk’s DOGE accessing systems that contain the private information of millions of students. According to reports, Musk was dumping all of this highly sensitive information into general-use AI systems for guidance on budget cuts. The letter demanded that Carter take several steps towards transparency, including releasing a list of names of everyone accessing DOE data, explaining how private data was being protected, and confirming no awards or grants had been secretly frozen or terminated. DOE refused to respond and, instead, chose to lock lawmakers out of its building.
The Department of Education has not publicly responded to the incident. However, it is deeply concerning that Congressmen elected to represent America are being entirely shut out of a department that Congress created and only Congress abolished.
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