Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
Dozens of protestors gathered outside of the U.S. 281-Thousand Oaks office of Republican Congressman Chip Roy to protest his support of Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
There were chants of "Chip Roy do your Job" and "Deport Musk," and "Stop the coup" and a rendition of "America the Beautiful."
They were concerned about DOGE's invasive efforts to skim the personal data of Americans through the Department of Treasury as a part of its cost cutting efforts.
They also expressed concerns about the buyout plan for federal workers.
One of the protest leaders, Marinella Murrillo, serves as the District 6 AFL-CIO executive vice president: "We're being treated with such disrespect. We're being made to be seen like we're loafing on the job when that's not the case. We are public servants. We took an oath. We took an oath to preserve, defend, and protect the people of this country and the U.S."
Protestors questioned the legitimacy of DOGE under the law and urged lawmakers to put an end to it.
"Representatives like Chip Roy are not standing up," said protestor Bob Hotard. "You know, they can have their conservative agenda. Fine. I don't agree with them. I think half of them are, you know, bought, but that's fine. But stand up when someone like Elon Musk starts to take over the country."
Protestor Martha Wolf said she believes federal spending needs to go down, but not the way Musk is going about it.
"I'm actually in favor of cutting the federal budget," she said. "We need to cut the deficit. But we need to do it the right way. We need to have accountants in there, and he brought in a bunch of coders that have access to our very secure federal data bases, and it's very dangerous."
Protestor Esther Cortez also is opposed to DOGE. "Checks and balances are really needed, and DOGE is dangerous," she said.
Michael Cortez, another protestor, spoke up for migrants. "Love and hard work and hope is never a crime, and no human is illegal on this land. We are all people of this land behind the red, white, and blue, and we are striving for the same things — to keep our families safe and to keep this nation great.
Protestors Phillip Manna and his wife, Kathy, held up a sign that read "HONK NO TO CHIP'PING AWAY OUR DEMOCRACY," a reference to Roy.
Newly elected Bexar County Democratic Party Chair Michelle Lowe Solis also helped lead the protest.
A few counter-protestors also showed up to show their support for DOGE.
Roy's office did not respond to TPR's request for comment.
