Magaziner, Reed Vow to Fight Musk – Trump Coup

CRANSTON, RI — Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-02) and Sen. Jack Reed (RI-D) met at the National Education Association Rhode Island office Monday  morning to outline the latest attack on federal government by the Elon Musk & President Donald Trump Coup,  an education funding cut ultimatum over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion DEI policy, urging the Supreme Court and Republican colleagues not to take a knee.

After the press conference, Magaziner said that while many Republican Congressional representatives have so far stayed silent, they are privately very concerned about the unconstitutional power grab, an apparent Musk – Trump coup, though neither he nor Reed used that word. Magaziner said he’s confident they will find the will to help him and Reed hold Trump accountable.

The event followed the confirmation hearing of Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education and comes amid growing concerns about the administration’s plans to abolish the department. Wednesday, President Trump commented that he’d like the department closed ‘immediately’. And reports indicate that officials from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have already accessed Education Department databases, identifying employees for dismissal and canceling federal contracts.

On Friday, the Department of Education’s Trump -appointed Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education Craig Trainor issued a letter ultimatum for state education departments and local schools to remove DEI programs and polices, under threat of losing federal funding.

Trainor advised education departments to: (1) ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law; (2) cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and (3) cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race.

Failing to do so, he wrote, would jeopardize federal funding for schools.

The Rhode Island Congressmen met at the 99 Bald Hill Rd. Cranston, RI office with Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green, Rhode Island Commissioner of Postsecondary Education  Shannon Gilkey, NEARI Executive Director Mary Barden, President of the RI Federation of Teachers Maribeth Calabro, RI College President Jack Warner, and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Executive Director Paige Parks, all of whom outlined the myriad ways losing the state’s $137 million in federal education funding would hurt Rhode Island.

Reed said part of that funding includes $58 million for students with disabilities to ensure they’re provided a robust and meaningful education.

“So, what going to happen? These children with disabilities are going to be lost,” Reed said.

The potential cuts would also include $97 million for Pell Grants to Rhode Islanders for higher education.

“Families will have to make a hard decision. Can we afford to send our kids to school or not? We don’t have the Pell Grant,” Reed said.

Musk – Trump Coup seizes funding decisions from Congress

Both Magaziner and Reed pointed out the letter, one of several the Trump Administration has pursued wrenching Constitutional power of the purse from Congress, is illegal. Furthermore, Reed noted, Trump has vowed to eliminate the Department of Education entirely, also not within his Constitutional powers. Each Congressman said the Musk – Trump led assaults on federal agencies were an “illegal” power grab – otherwise known as a coup – to indiscriminately gut federal agencies, including the Department of Education, a power reserved by the Constitution for Congress.

Reed noted the Musk- Trump Coup’s recent illegal blocking of federal grants, successfully challenged by several state attorneys general, including RI  Attorney General Neronha, (a legal defeat the administration has ignored) and the Department of Goverment Efficiency (DOGE) attempts to access sensitive U.S. Treasury data including social security numbers and other private information of all Americans, as a concerted assault on American Democracy.

Reed said he and Magaziner were prepared to fight the attacks of the Musk-Trump coup, but it would take widespread public outrage, communicated to representatives, including to Republican representatives.

“It’s going to take a gargantuan effort and ultimately, it’s going to take my colleagues on the other side the Republicans, to wake up and say, ‘This isn’t America,’ ” Reed said.

Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.