White House calls Democrat criticism of DOGE 'unacceptable' and 'incredibly alarming'

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Democrats Wednesday for their criticism of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling it "unacceptable" and "incredibly alarming." 

"It's unacceptable, the comments that have been made by these Democrat leaders, and frankly, they don't even know what they're talking about, because President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people to make this government more efficient," Leavitt responded. 

Leavitt also said during her daily White House press briefing, "If you heard that type of violent, enticing rhetoric from our side of the aisle, from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, I think there would be a lot more outrage in this room today." 

On Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said, "What we are witnessing here is the biggest heist in American history." 

"This is the most corrupt bargain we've ever seen in American history: Elon Musk gives $250 million to elect Donald Trump, and Donald Trump turns over the keys to United States government to Elon Musk and his billionaire friends and his cronies," Van Hollen said during a protest outside the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. 

"Are we going to let that stand? Hell no, we are not going to let that stand," Van Hollen added, later vowing, "We have to fight this in the courts, we have to fight this in the Congress, we have to fight this in the streets. We need to fight this all over America." 

On Monday morning, hundreds of employees for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reported they were locked out of the agency's computer system and that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed on Monday.  

The agency's fate is hanging in the balance as DOGE is working on an apparent overhaul of the agency. 

"So we might actually see somebody get killed. An American who works for the American government might be harmed in some of those countries that they're operating in," she reportedly added. 

Fox News' Emma Colton and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.