On April 5, tens of thousands of people in all 50 states joined a wave of coordinated protests against President Donald Trump’s sweeping efforts to dismantle the federal government. The demonstrations, organized under the banner “Hands Off!,” brought together over 150 advocacy groups, labor unions, LGBTQ+ organizations, immigration rights groups, and civil servants.

At the center of their anger: mass firings of federal workers, proposed closures of Social Security offices, crackdowns on transgender rights and immigrant communities, and what organizers called the growing unelected power of Elon Musk inside the White House.

Who took to the streets

From Washington, D.C. to rural Idaho, more than 1,200 events unfolded in parks, courthouses, and state capitols. The National Mall in D.C. saw one of the largest gatherings, where representatives Jamie Raskin and Maxwell Frost delivered speeches warning of creeping authoritarianism.

In Atlanta, a coalition of union nurses and public transit workers marched together, chanting, “Hands off our jobs!” In Phoenix, a trans rights group led a silent protest in front of a shuttered Department of Health building. In Chicago, deportation survivors rallied outside an ICE office with signs reading, “You can’t erase us.”

The protests were sparked by a flurry of executive actions in Trump’s first 90 days back in office:

• Thousands of federal workers terminated under the pretext of “redundancy”
• Announced closures of key Social Security offices in rural and working-class regions
• Aggressive immigration raids and detentions
• Rollbacks on transgender healthcare protections
• A freeze on federal contracts with labor-unionized entities

Elon Musk, now leading the Department of Government Efficiency, has been instrumental in executing these changes. He claims they’re saving taxpayers billions. Critics say he’s gutting public infrastructure to expand corporate dominance.

Why it matters

Protesters say this isn’t just about policy — it’s about democracy.

By targeting public servants, gutting institutions, and outsourcing influence to unelected billionaires, Trump is reshaping the U.S. government into a tool for private power. The fear isn’t just cuts. It’s consolidation.

This is the largest anti-government restructuring protest movement since the Tea Party — but from the other side of the political spectrum. Instead of demanding less government, people are demanding better government, and their voices are growing louder.

What happens next

Organizers are already planning a second day of action for May Day. Labor unions in key swing states say they intend to escalate with coordinated strikes if federal agencies are not reinstated.

Meanwhile, the White House has remained silent, and Musk has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to mock the protests as a “participation trophy parade.”

But if April 5 showed anything, it’s this: Americans aren’t staying home.

They’re watching. They’re angry. And they’re coming for their government back.