Protesters gather at Rep. Baumgartner’s office over Trump’s elevation of Musk
Kathy Emdresz stood on Spokane Falls Boulevard on Monday evening in protest of the Trump administration, but also in honor of her relatives who fought in World War II – because if they were alive today, they’d “be heartbroken.”
Her father, Mike Bowen, was shot while serving in the U.S. Army, and her husband’s dad was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
“This is not what they fought for,” Emdresz said as she held her sign, along with a couple hundred others, that read, “This isn’t what our dads defeated Hitler for” below a picture of Elon Musk, President Donald Trump’s right-hand of the nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency, raising a straight arm in salute during a January Trump rally. Many have questioned the gesture for its seeming likeness to a Nazi salute, though Musk has denied the accusations.
Since the creation of DOGE to analyze how efficient each sector of the government is, the agency has directed thousands of firings of federal employees in the name of eliminating “wasteful spending” across the U.S. In Eastern Washington. The firings spanned the Grand Coulee Dam, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, positions like scientists, park rangers, people at the Centers for Disease Control’s mining research lab in Spokane and more.
The protest, which spanned both sides of the street outside the local office of Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, included many people who were there to raise objections to his little time in congress.
“He is bowing down to Trump’s wants,” said David McKinney, who held a sign pleading with Baumgartner to do his job.
Baumgartner generally has supported Trump’s policies but sometimes has criticized Trump’s rhetoric or tone. He has, however, been opposed to Trump’s efforts to impose tariffs.
Baumgartner called for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to resign in February, according to prior reporting from The Spokesman-Review, hours after a diplomatic meltdown in the White House over a mineral agreement as President Donald Trump claimed the Ukrainian president was “ungrateful.”
“For the good of his country, he should step down and allow an interim leader before new elections can be held,” Baumgartner wrote on social media last month.
McKinney called Baumgartner’s response to the heated White House exchange “totally out of line,” and said that instead of Zelenskyy resigning at the call of Baumgartner, Baumgartner should instead be the one to resign.
While the congressman criticized Zelenskyy, he also criticized the decision to suspend military intelligence for Ukraine.
McKinney, 71, likened the protests to that of the Vietnam War.
“Republicans are not doing their jobs,” he said. “People must stand up against it. It’s Congress’ job to make appropriations, and they’re not doing their job – they’re letting DOGE do it.”
Jefferson Workman, who was holding a sign that said “Don’t be a Bum-Gartner” called Baumgartner’s actions a deviation from the “true needs of the people.”
He called Baumgartner’s criticism of Zelenskyy “gross” and Zelenskyy a hero.
Baumgartner, Workman believes, is caving to the wants of the Trump administration since being in D.C.
“He works for us,” Workman said. “And our government isn’t doing anything. This is a people’s movement.”
Responding to the protests on the social media platform X, which Musk owns, Baumgartner wrote that “it’s always a good thing when People express their first amendment rights.”
“I’m pleased that the demonstration was peaceful and didn’t interfere with folks trying to get service from our office. I represent everyone in the 5th Congressional district, both the 61% who voted for me and the 39% who did not. We’ve already done more Town Halls than anyone else in Congress and we’re looking forward to doing more next week. I want to here from folks impacted by what’s going on in DC,” the post reads.