‘Workers over billionaires.’ State College community members rally against Trump’s policies
Honking cars whizzed past the Allen Street gates Friday afternoon as a crowd of roughly 50 community members called on elected officials to better support working Pennsylvanians.
Friday’s demonstration, organized largely by the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, encouraged Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., to support Pennsylvania workers and oppose ongoing Trump administration efforts to slash funding for critical programs, reduce the federal workforce, increase executive power and fire Senate-confirmed appointees. Rally attendees held signs reading “Workers over Billionaires” and “White House is Corrupt” and led several chants, including, “It’s our money, not theirs. Workers over billionaires.”
Community members planned to deliver a letter to the newly elected senator’s office Friday afternoon. It outlines steps they feel he should take to support his constituents in Centre County and across the commonwealth.
“Such firings, in addition to sweeping executive orders and wide-ranging and illegal cuts and spending freezes imposed by the ‘Department of Government Efficiency,’ threaten the constitutional separation of powers along with essential public services in Centre County,” the letter reads. Some executive orders, including those rolling back transgender rights and recognition, are already affecting county residents.
The letter suggests McCormick could commit to supporting constituents across Pennsylvania by publicly opposing illegal workforce reductions and the firing of Senate-confirmed appointees, tax cuts for wealthy Americans and budget cuts that threaten the efficacy of essential government programs like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. So far, a large share of these efforts and orders on behalf of the Trump administration have faced significant legal challenges or court-ordered pauses.
“These do not include all positions that our community and working Pennsylvanians demand, but action on them would show that you are serious about representing Pennsylvanians, not Big Tech billionaires,” the letter reads.
McCormick recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he’s on board with DOGE efforts, saying that Trump campaigned on “shaking up Washington, reducing the budget and the expenses of the federal government, reining in the bureaucracy in terms of rogue bureaucrats driving regulation and ... progressive ideology that has hijacked some of the institutions.”
He also told the news outlet that there’s a need to monitor consequences of cuts.
Organizers of Friday’s demonstration planned to leave the scene at the Allen Street gates around 4:30 p.m. and personally deliver their letter to McCormick at his regional office in Innovation Park, part of Penn State’s campus. During a protest outside his office earlier this week, a group of Penn State faculty and graduate student workers were told they were trespassing and must disperse, WPSU Radio reported.
Residents also protested outside of U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson’s Bellefonte office earlier this week.
Connor Lewis, president of the Seven Mountains Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said repeated attempts to voice constituent concerns to McCormick are important early in his first term.
“I think it’s shameful, frankly, that happened on Wednesday,” Lewis told the Centre Daily Times. “There should be some accountability for whomever it is in Senator McCormick’s office issued that threat. He’s new to office, and I think he’s in a moment in which he can say what kind of senator he’s going to be. Is he going to be the kind of senator who listens to working families in Pennsylvania, or is he going to be the senator who calls the cops on them?”
McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO, assumed public office for the first time after defeating incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in a narrow race in November. His office, found at 329 Innovation Blvd. Suite 226, is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and available by phone at 814-357-0314.
You can read the full letter addressed to McCormick below.
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