Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and various other Democratic lawmakers donned on the Department of Education (DOE) headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Friday, seeking to storm the building and speak with acting secretary Denise L. Carter.  However, a DOE staffer guarding the entrance prevented the mob from gaining entry.

Waters and others harassed the man, pressing him to reveal his identity and grant them access to the government building.  The roughly 30 Democrats descended on the DOE building after news broke that the Trump administration may downsize the agency.  Footage capture of the incident shows Waters shouting at the man, who stood firm with his arms crossed, unamused by the congress members.

“Look them in the eye, come on, hold your face up ! Look at them! Let them see you!” Waters yelled at the man, growing frustrated with his assignment to prevent their entry. The man stood still with his arms folded, refusing to acknowledge Waters’ request “This is him! Look at him,” Waters added. “What’s your name? Tell us your name! Give me that ID again!”

The man unenthusiastically responded, “I showed you the ID.”  Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) then jumped in, demanding to see his ID. “I haven’t seen it, I haven’t seen it,” she said, as the staffer shrugged, refusing to honor her request.  Waters later said, “We’re trying to save your job! You won’t have a job if we don’t help you. You won’t have any place to send your kids.” The DOE employee claimed the situation began to feel “dangerous.”

Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) interrupted the man, sating, “I’m going to stop you right there.” She then said, “No, no, no, I’m going to stop you right there and put it on the record — you did not get a dangerous response here… so I’m not going to let you put that narrative out there.”  Waters then informed the man he should prepare to stand in front of the building for “24 hours” with them.

Waters asked the man, “Are you prepared to stand here all night if we decide to stay?”  He replied, “I guess, yeah.”  However, the Democratic lawmakers were ultimately unable to enter the building and make their requests known to the secretary.  Reports indicate that federal officers were called to the scene to provide additional security.

Rep. Maxwell Frost took to X, sharing his thoughts on the incident. “They’ve called armed federal officers to the scene. We aren’t dangerous. We are here to represent our people. To defend public education. This is an authoritarian regime. You cannot block members of Congress from entering the Department of Education,” he wrote, alongside footage he recorded.

Frost added in a video statement, “I’m here with multiple members of congress of education to fight for education, and they have locked the doors. they’re not letting us sit. it says all access efforts. there’s this random guy out here just refusing to let us sit.  A year ago, I’d be able to walk into this building, and not be locked out, this is what they’re doing, Elon is allowed in. But not you, not your elected representatives, not parents not sued us Elon can go in, his goons can go in but not the representatives of the people.”

Note:  The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.