CHARLESTON, S.C. — A group of more than two dozen activists from Beaufort drove nearly two hours to Charleston on Monday to deliver over 1,200 letters to the offices of Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, voicing their concerns over the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk.
Organized by Lowcountry Indivisible Beaufort, the activists aimed to bring attention to what they view as the “cruelty” and “callousness” of the federal budget cuts being driven by Musk’s efficiency initiative.
“They won’t come to us, so we decided to come to them,” said Anne Dickerson, a member of Lowcountry Indivisible.
1,200 Letters of Protest: A Message to South Carolina Senators
The activists hand-delivered letters to the Charleston offices of Senators Graham and Scott, detailing concerns from voters across South Carolina. Each letter expressed frustration over the sweeping layoffs and funding cuts carried out by DOGE, especially in areas like humanitarian aid and federal job cuts.
“Everyone wrote these letters from their heart,” said Rita Conrad, Communications Director of Lowcountry Indivisible.
The group says that calls, emails, and prior letters sent to the senators’ offices had received only “stock answers” that failed to address their concerns directly. This motivated the activists to escalate their efforts by delivering the messages in person.
Concerns Over Cuts to Aid and Livelihoods
While DOGE’s goal of cutting wasteful government spending has received praise from fiscal conservatives, activists argue that the method of implementing these cuts is unnecessarily harsh:
- Funding cuts to USAID have raised fears of humanitarian crises in developing nations.
- Thousands of federal workers are facing job losses without clear evidence of fraud or waste justifying the terminations.
- Programs that serve vulnerable communities are being slashed without adequate review or alternative plans.
“They stopped funding USAID, and we have to believe that people are going to die from the lack of food,” Conrad said. “Other people are losing their livelihoods. This is just a cruel way to make change in the government.”
Senator Tim Scott’s Defense of DOGE Cuts
In response to growing criticism, Sen. Tim Scott defended the DOGE initiative in a recent interview with Fox News:
“If we can keep those dollars in the private sector, America wins. Whether [Musk] finds $5 billion, a trillion, or even aspirationally $2 trillion, that could multiply to $10 trillion in private sector activity over a 10-year period.”
Scott’s office did not issue a new statement in response to the letters but instead referred reporters to his previous comments supporting Musk’s budget cuts as a necessary step toward economic growth and government efficiency.
Growing Resistance Against DOGE Cuts
The protest in Charleston is part of a larger wave of resistance against the Trump-backed DOGE initiative:
- Federal worker unions have filed lawsuits in several states, claiming that mass layoffs violate labor protections and due process rights.
- Agencies like the Department of Defense (DoD) and FBI have instructed their employees to ignore Musk’s controversial email directive, which demanded proof of weekly accomplishments or risk termination.
- Legal experts argue that DOGE’s moves may overstep constitutional boundaries, bypassing Congress’s authority over federal spending.
“They’ve fired people, but they haven’t delivered any real evidence of fraud or waste,” Conrad pointed out. “We believe there’s waste and certainly some streamlining needed—but this isn’t the way to do it.”
Lowcountry Indivisible: A Growing Force
Since Trump took office, membership in Lowcountry Indivisible Beaufort has more than doubled as more citizens become engaged in political activism:
- A recent meeting on immigration issues drew over 125 attendees, with nearly half attending for the first time.
- The group’s growing numbers reflect a larger trend of political mobilization across the country in response to Trump-era policies.
“People care,” Conrad said. “We asked how many people were new to the organization, and nearly half raised their hands.”
