About 100 Birmingham-area residents gathered this past weekend outside the federal courthouse downtown, demanding action from Sen. Katie Britt and other elected leaders.
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Their message: Stand up against executive orders they believe could cost jobs and strip away critical social programs, including Medicaid and free school lunches.
The protest, organized by Indivisible Birmingham, centered on concerns over Elon Musk’s role as head of the Department of Governmental Efficiency.
Demonstrators say his influence in the federal government and his reported moves to review, restrict, or dissolve certain agencies threaten working families.
Throughout the demonstration, the crowd repeatedly chanted, “Do your job!” directing their frustrations at Britt, whom they say isn’t doing enough to stop these changes.
“A billionaire has no reason to be in our government, in our money, our Social Security numbers, our files, or anything like that,” said protester Angelica McCain. “We’re just not for it. We’re not here for it.”
Brent Stauffer, another protester, pointed to what he called unconstitutional overreach.
“Musk is supposedly a special government employee, which is an advisory position,” Stauffer said. “He doesn’t have the constitutional power to shut down an entire federal agency, and we’ve got to do everything we can to restore the rule of law.”
Only weeks into the Trump administration, demonstrators say they’re already seeing red flags, particularly with Musk’s reported push to restructure or eliminate agencies that oversee social programs.
Protesters argue that even if voters supported government cutbacks, there are legal limits to how those changes can be made.
“Even if people voted for unconstitutional things to happen, the Constitution still forbids those things from happening,” Stauffer said.
“Regardless of how many wanted change, you can’t do that without a process,” added Steve McKinney. “There are constitutional avenues to get this sort of thing done.”
For McCain, a mother, the issue is deeply personal. She says her children rely on social programs that could be affected by these policy shifts and she believes Britt must step in.
She has the option to reject all of these orders coming down from the White House, and she’s not,” McCain said. “Employees are being told they can quit their jobs, it’s not legal. She can protect us, and she’s not. Our children are losing their health care and their education. It’s not right. She needs to do better and stand up for us.”
McCain says she and other lower-middle-class families depend on programs like Medicaid and free school lunches to survive.
My children benefit from free lunches and Medicaid,” she said. “These are things that are being put on the line right now, and we have to have them. Lower-middle-class families rely on these programs to survive.”
Some protesters said they had already contacted Britt’s office to voice their concerns, while others admitted they had not reached out, at least not yet.
WBRC reached out to Britt’s office for comment, but has not yet received a response. However, Britt has previously stated her support for reducing what she calls ‘bloated government agencies’.
