Marcher shares dismay with downsizing rampage by billionaire Elon Musk
TOPEKA — Sarah Melody deployed large block letters to emphasize the level of her irritation with pursuit by billionaire Elon Musk of allegedly extravagant federal spending on personnel and programs.
Melody, of Lawrence, joined dozens of people for a protest march Monday that circled the perimeter of the Kansas Capitol. Many held posters challenging the budget-slashing methodology authorized by President Donald Trump, but Melody’s focus was on Musk and his oversight of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE.
With thick gloves, winter boots and a heavy coat to ward off temperatures in the teens, she made her point: “NO ONE ELECTED ELON.” These days in Washington, D.C., it only required a first name to identify prominent targets of political ire.
“I do not care for it. He’s not someone who’s judgment I trusted, even if he had been elected,” Melody said. “I get that Trump won the election, okay. But then he brings in this other ‘rando’ who just has a lot of money. I don’t trust his judgment. I don’t trust his intent. I don’t trust anything about him.”
She said it would be acceptable if the Trump administration moved forward with an intelligent program to cut waste and fraud in government.
“But,” Melody said, “this is not it.”
Some marchers touted signs that demanded attention to the separation of powers among the executive, judicial and legislative branches: “Congress: Do Your Job.” Others chanted a message for members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate who applauded or stood silent while the Trump-Musk administration unfolded: “People united will never be divided.”
Inside the Capitol, Gov. Laura Kelly had just finished a news conference in which she was asked about Musk’s crew seeking access to Internal Revenue Service files on every individual, business and nonprofit in Kansas and the rest of the United States. The DOGE task force told The New York Times and Washington Post the quest for confidential IRS files was justified under the Trump administration’s goal of government cuts and workforce reductions.
“I’m very concerned about what’s going on in a number of agencies on a federal level where access to individuals’ personal private information is being made accessible to people with no security clearance and no accountability,” Kelly said.
She said there had been discussions about how Democratic governors could collectively respond to chaos and confusion in Washington.
“We are having conversations about that,” Kelly said. “We’re just like we were during the pandemic. When the president does something that is in the best interests of our states, we’re all there. But, if it’s not, we should push back.”
So far, DOGE has targeted the Treasury Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Numerous other federal agencies have been recipients of DOGE’s incursions to shrink bureaucracy, cancel contracts, examine data and reshape policy.
State Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican from Andover, said he modeled the Kansas Senate’s DOGE committee after the federal counterpart created by Trump.
“It seems like there are moments in history where God raises up great people and makes big change, and I think that is Donald Trump with this nation,” Masterson said.
In terms of the IRS, Trump issued a fund-raising appeal that asked recipients about whether Musk should conduct an audit of the federal tax agency.
“Are you sick of being targeted and harassed by the IRS?” Trump said. “Maybe it’s time that somebody audited them for a change!”
Kelly said there was nothing inherently wrong with rigorous reviews of state or federal spending to identify potential government savings, but it required people responsible for those sweeps to be thorough and thoughtful.
“I’m very concerned with the actions being taken because they’re being taken with so little thought to the actual impact or the benefits,” the governor said. “You make sure you’re not throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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