No. 3

February 21, 2025

Opposition in the U.S. to Coup of the Oligarchs

All-Encompassing Breadth and Depth
of Mass Actions

– Kathleen Chandler –

February 5, 2025

Photo Review

• Mass Actions Across the United States

Opposition in the U.S. to Coup of the Oligarchs

All-Encompassing Breadth and Depth
of Mass Actions

– Kathleen Chandler –

Across the United States, the profound opposition to the coup of the oligarchs is seen in the all-encompassing breadth and depth of mass actions being held from coast to coast, some even daily and most weekly and on special occasions.

Broad and unified actions are bringing together people from all walks of life, backgrounds, nationalities, young and old, irrespective of who they voted for, to stand up for the rights of all. Whether defending workers, students, immigrants, refugees, trans youth, public education and health care, demonstrators are making clear that defending ALL means ALL and NO! to attacks on rights means NO!

Ever since Trump took office, with the oligarchs openly brandishing their power of impunity, resistance has grown with a variety of tactics being used. Demonstrations, walkouts, call-in days to Congress, petitions, meetings, webinars, lawsuits, and more are taking place.

A historic battle is on as peoples south and north, east and west speak out and stand up for a democracy and economy that serve their interests, not the interests of billionaires. Alternatives are being considered and developed, as clearly the existing institutions and constitution are not stopping the broad attacks and impunity taking place.

Pro-active stands are being taken against Trump's fast and furious use of executive orders imposing chaos and fear and striving to divert the fight for rights.

Students, parents, and school officials from New York to Texas and California are organizing "Know Your Rights" seminars and providing guidance on how not to support or talk to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or let them into schools, hospitals or churches, which ICE is illegally attempting to do, without warrants or cause. "Know Your Rights" cards are being widely distributed in many languages.

Rapid Response Teams are being organized to intervene and protect those targeted, with Chicago alone having more than 20 such teams in action.

High school walkouts have become common, with those in Los Angeles going daily for a week. Faculty, staff, and students on university campuses are also standing against ICE and in defence of pro-Palestine students being targeted.

Alongside demonstrations, more than 60 lawsuits have been filed, with many successfully securing injunctions to block government actions. Federal workers have filed lawsuits and rejected layoffs. Immigrant rights organizations and legal forces like the American Civil Liberties Union have filed lawsuits against Trump's order to rescind the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. Four judges have so far blocked the order concerning citizenship, while the oligarchs have said they will ignore court rulings.

Other lawsuits block the illegal detentions and seizures being carried out by ICE. These include a lawsuit blocking sending people to Guantánamo, illegally on Cuban territory, where Trump is planning a 30,000 bed facility outside legal purview.

The National Parents Union has condemned allowing law enforcement to make arrests at schools. Denver Public Schools is suing the Department of Homeland Security, demanding ICE not be allowed on school grounds, following ICE raids that blocked school buses and terrorized students. The University of California Student Association sued the Department of Education, accusing Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) of illegally accessing "sensitive personal and financial information" of about 42 million federal student loan borrowers. There are similar suits against the Treasury Department and DOGE for hacking into massive personal databases.

Doctors for America filed a lawsuit opposing the removal of "a broad range of health-related data," that is much needed by health care workers and researchers. The federal judge ordered Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to restore their websites and datasets.

Twenty-two states sued the National Institutes of Health over its decision to place a 15 per cent cap on indirect funding for research projects -- calling the rate change "arbitrary and capricious." The judge halted the cap while the litigation moves forward. States have also sued concerning removal of funds already approved, such as from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Among the hundreds of executive orders and DOGE actions taking place, three key features stand out. Opposing them is a significant part of the current resistance being waged by the U.S. working class and peoples in every state.

One is the military preparation and justification for military action against Mexico and perhaps Canada and the use of the military inside the U.S. in the name of securing the border. People on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border in towns like El Paso are especially active standing against detention camps, deportations, and militarization of their cities.

Coupled with this is opposition to the effort to control and unify policing forces. The use of FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents alongside ICE is to train all in carrying out inhumane and illegal actions under a unified command. Similarly, the plans to fire FBI and CIA agents have to do with unifying and securing forces who will carry out presidential dictate without question, for which destroying all prior configurations and chains of command is needed by the oligarchs usurping control of the state.

Given the conditions of fierce antagonisms and civil war being waged among the oligarchs, the Commander-in-Chief is striving to control the many policing agencies involved. The peoples of the U.S. and the entire world are not falling for attempts by one set of oligarchs to defend the likes of the FBI and CIA which are known for the crimes they have been committing against the peoples within the U.S. and the world. The demand across the U.S. for some time is for the FBI and intelligence agencies to all be removed from their communities and organizations. The demand is for the people themselves to organize to defend their communities -- something they can do much better.

Federal and state workers could also do a much better job of running the country than is done by the institutions which are now being willy-nilly dismantled in the bid of the oligarchs to privatize everything and use federal funds as they see fit.

The attacks targeting workers are not only to seize funds but to undermine and remove these workers as an experienced and unionized force.

The third visible aim of the coup by the oligarchs is to dismantle barriers which stop them from securing yet more federal funds for their own private interests.

Control of the purse strings is one remaining power Congress has but is not defending. The wholesale firings, freezes and cuts all involve federal funds already appropriated. Where now will these funds go?

Trump may proclaim he is cutting the federal budget, but in fact the bulk of funds will be utilized for whatever the oligarchs decide, with no accountability. It will be no different than the hundreds of billions sent to Israel and Ukraine for "humanitarian" purposes but used for other purposes, or the funds that the Pentagon "lost" in Iraq.

The actions held in the U.S. in the month of February started on February 3 with the "Day Without Immigrants," where students walked out, workers joined protests, and many small businesses closed in support of immigrant and refugee rights. Everywhere people are demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stay out of communities and be abolished.

On February 5, the "50501 Movement" got underway. "50 Cities, 50 States, One Day" actions have since then been organized countrywide including those held in Washington, DC defending federal workers, as well as the actions on "President's Day"-- February 17 -- when more than 75 actions where held in cities in every state under the banner "Not My President's Day."

The demands No to Oligarchy, No to Deportations, Defend the Working Class are ringing out loud and clear as the ongoing actions which continue without letup categorically express mass opposition to the coup of the oligarchs.

Kathleen Chandler is the leader of the U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization (USMLO)

(click to enlarge)

Photo Review

Mass Actions Across the United States

Actions Against Immigration Raids and Mass Deportations

Actions to defend the rights of all are being held on nearly a daily basis as the oligarchs have mandated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to raid communities and schools and criminalize working people. They are targeting many militant workers who have lived and organized in the U.S. for many years, making vital contributions to the resistance, the economy and the life of the communities where they live.

Pawtucket, RI

February 7, 2025

Charlotte, NC

February 9, 2025

Durham, NC

February 9, 2025

Columbus, OH

February 8, 2025

Milwaukee, WI

February 7, 2025

Chicago, IL
February 1, 2025

Student protest, University of Illinois at Chicago, February 11, 2025

Dallas, TX

February 2, 2025

McAllen, TXFebruary 2, 2025

Pflugerville, TX

Detention centre protest, February 1, 2025

Brownsville, TX

February 2, 2025

Denver, CO

February 8, 2025

Salt Lake City, UT

February 11, 2025

Seattle, WA

February 9, 2025

Los Angeles, CA

February 2, 2025

Superbowl Sunday February 9, 2025

Ongoing Protests at Federal Offices in Washington, DC

February 4, 2025

Thousands protested outside federal government offices in Washington, DC on February 4 as Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) started to take over the functioning of various government departments, such as the Treasury Department, despite having no right or qualifications to do so. DOGE staff or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have physically blocked government employees from their offices while unqualified people unleashed by DOGE seize internal records and files.

On February 4, parents, students, and active and retired education workers rallied on Capitol Hill, along with President of the National Education Association Becky Pringle, who said on social media that the action was to "advocate for the safe and well-funded schools our students need and deserve. We will not allow harmful policies to jeopardize their future. Not on our watch."

February 4, 2025

Also on February 7, people rallied outside the Department of Labor to oppose the Trump administration's efforts to block union organizing and dismantle worker protections.

Rally outside Department of Labor, February 7, 2025

On February 12, educators and parents demonstrated in Washington DC in support of public education and against privatization and the drastic cuts planned to education funding. The action took place on the day Trump's unqualified nominee for the U.S. Department of Education was being confirmed.

Rally for public education February 12, 2025

Federal Public Service Workers Rally in Washington, DC, February 11

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) organized a militant noon-hour rally in Washington, DC "to safeguard the civil service and preserve the rights of workers." The union is standing strong against mass layoffs of thousands of workers in the federal public service and neo-liberal restructuring of multiple government departments to seize federal funds and undermine the union.

AFGE members were joined by members and representatives from other unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the American Federation of Labour-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), as well as lawmakers. Participants were adamant that the work done by federal public service workers is essential to provide for the needs of people across the U.S. They are calling for increased funding for social programs and increased accessibility to all those in need.

The oligarchs have stated an aim to cut 10 per cent of the federal workforce, or as many as 240,000 out of the present workforce of 2.4 million workers. Trump signed an executive order to that effect on February 11, that requires federal agencies to work with DOGE to implement cuts, while limiting future hiring to no more than one employee for every four who are forced out of public service.

The Trump administration began a broad series of mass terminations on February 13 and 14. About 6,500 federal workers were laid off on those two days alone, particularly probationary workers -- new hires with fewer job protections. So far, some 10,000 workers have been laid off since January 20. Some 75,000 workers have taken the "deferred resignation" offer that will see them paid until September. However, the offer is being rescinded for some, and the executive is demanding many tens of thousands more be thrown out like trash.

AFGE and other public sector workers are standing up to say NO!

February 11, 2025

Protests in 50 Cities in 50 States on February 5

A broad day of action was called for February 5 by the 50501 Movement with the aim of mobilizing actions at state capitals and major cities across the country -- "50 Cities, 50 States, 1 Day." Hundreds, if not thousands, took part at each location, with signs and banners affirming rights to health care, education, and social programs. Like actions all month, people are making clear that security does not come from ICE or the FBI or the oligarchs but by defending the rights of all.