Performatively barred: On Monday, a group of Democrat legislators tried to enter the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) building, but were refused entry. On Tuesday, the same thing happened when Democrats tried to enter the Treasury Department building. And then yesterday, a group of Democratic legislators tried to enter the Environmental Protection Agency building. Thrice denied entry. All for what, exactly?
But the stunts will continue until morale improves: "A group of at least 20 House Democrats led by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) plans to go to the Department of Education on Friday to try to secure a meeting with Acting Secretary Denise Carter, Takano's office said," reports Axios.
One of President Donald Trump's worst qualities is his taste for petty showmanship—a taste unfortunately shared and even stoked by Elon Musk. Of course, interpreting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts as symbolic—the American rendition of Argentine President Javier Milei's "Afuera"—more than practically helpful with slashing the size of the deficit is probably the right way to think about them. And if they're symbolic—trying to visibly take a chainsaw to wasteful and offensive (to half the country) spending—then it makes sense to bar Democratic politicians from trying to performatively audit such efforts.
