Congressional Democrats denied entry to USAID building

Driving the news: Lawmakers, including Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), spoke to protesters outside the USAID headquarters.

• The protest was in opposition to Trump's reported move to shut down USAID — the federal government's clearinghouse for foreign aid — and deny the agency's staffers entry to the building.
• Van Hollen said the lawmakers were there to "hear firsthand from whoever is here ... or at least witness firsthand what is happening with this Elon Musk attempted takeover."

What we're hearing: "We were told the office is closed and all employees were told just to telework, which I thought was illegal now," said Raskin, referencing Trump's order that all federal employees return to their offices full time.

• Aaron Fritschner, a senior staffer for Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) who was present at USAID with his boss, told Axios the lawmakers were "denied entry on instructions received from higher-ups."

• "They declined to tell us who and referred us to the U.S. State Department," Fritschner added.
• "We were just told by a spokesperson that the office is closed and that they are following the [executive order] and that's it," said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.).

The bottom line: "More chaos and destruction from Elon Musk unleashed against a critical force for U.S. foreign policy, disease control and democratic development," said Raskin.