From left, Larry Taylor, Shari Koukl, and Jennifer Murphy-Vick protest against Elon Musk outside Sen. John Cornyn's office in downtown Tyler. (Jennifer Scott/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Concerns over billionaire Elon Musk’s recently-appointed role in the United States government have sparked protests across Texas, including in Tyler and Longview.

“(Musk) has bought his way into the White House and now he is taking over our money,” said Dr. Nancy Nichols, president of the Texas National Organization for Women. “He has his greedy hands in the Treasury Department, which is our purse.”

President Donald Trump appointed Musk to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force housed within the executive office of the president.

For a second day, Tyler-area residents gathered Thursday afternoon to protest outside the First Place building at 100 E. Ferguson Street in downtown Tyler, urging Sen. John Cornyn to address their concerns about Musk’s role and access to payment systems.

According to the Associated Press, recent actions by DOGE to “cut programs and slash federal regulations have raised concerns among civil servants, Democratic lawmakers and others that Musk’s team is withholding funds appropriated by Congress to suit the president’s political agenda.”

A Treasury Department official wrote a letter Tuesday to federal lawmakers saying a tech executive working with DOGE will have “read-only access” to the government’s payment system, according to the AP.

The Treasury official told the AP earlier this week that the ongoing “review” has “not caused payments for obligations such as Social Security and Medicare to be delayed or re-routed,” the AP reported.

Still, East Texas protesters say they are concerned about Musk, an unelected citizen, having access to Social Security and Medicare benefits. Some Congress members are concerned DOGE’s involvement with the payment system for the federal government could lead to security risks or missed payments for programs such as Social Security and Medicare, according to the AP.

“This is scary,” said Jennifer Murphy-Vick, president of the Cherokee County Democratic Club and member of the State Democratic Executive Committee for Congressional District 6, noting concerns about Musk’s background check and security clearance to access sensitive information.

Through an early executive order, the Trump administration established DOGE as part of efforts to cut government spending.

“We’re asking Sen. Cornyn to do his job, which is to represent us,” Nichols said. “The American people do not want the Treasury Department being taken over by this unelected billionaire.”

Tyler resident Larry Taylor shared his concerns about how Washington D.C. is handling the matter.

“… He has no business monitoring what the federal government is doing,” Taylor said.

Even though Musk was appointed by the president, some believe his access is unwarranted.

“He knows exactly how much each one of us collects and how much each one of us pays into the government,” Murphy-Vick said. “He has access to all of this information that normal citizens do not have access to. Why should he have access to it? This is someone that has overstepped the power of just being a citizen in the United States.”

In addition to the Thursday afternoon protest, 10 constituents, including Nichols, Murphy-Vick and Taylor, met with two representatives of Cornyn’s office.

“Cornyn was elected by us, the people, no matter which party he represents, all of us here in Texas,” Murphy-Vick said. “He needs to understand that we — his constituents — are not happy with what’s going on in Washington D.C. We’re really upset that these… people are being given more power than our elected officials or appointees that are actually elected by the senators.”

Nichols said representatives in Cornyn’s office told the group his office supports DOGE and the decisions of Trump and Musk.

The protesters also requested Cornyn host an East Texas town hall open to all residents. They were told their messages would be relayed to Cornyn.

“Because the staffers (took) almost no notes, we are not confident the information will reach Sen. Cornyn, and even less confident that he will act according to the will of his constituents rather than wealthy campaign contributors,” Nichols said.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph contacted the senator’s office for a statement and was directed to a tweet Cornyn posted in response to a similar protest that took place Wednesday night in San Antonio:

“Sorry to miss these folks … protesting my state offices over my support of President Donald J. Trump’s nominees & all the good work Elon Musk is doing with DOGE,” Cornyn wrote in the tweet posted on X. “I hate to break it to them, but we are just getting started. These people are really going to lose it when we extend the Trump tax cuts. Thanks for stopping by!”

As of Thursday, attorneys for the Justice Department have agreed to temporarily restrict staffers associated with the DOGE from accessing information in the Treasury Department’s payment system, according to NBC News. The agreement comes after a group of union members and retirees sued the Treasuring Department for providing DOGE access, saying it violated federal privacy laws.

“There was a reason that we have three branches of government,” Murphy-Vick said. “There’s a reason that things are done the way that they’re done. We are a democracy. We are not a dictatorship. We are not a totalitarian government. As a democracy, it’s us, the people, that are in charge of the government and we have to remind those that we elected that they speak for us, not for themselves and not for other corporations.”