A series of protests titled "Hands Off!" were held across the country on Saturday to condemn the new administration and what protesters feel is overreach.
"It's just terrifying," said Dana Thimens, an NC resident.
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In the Triangle, protesters held demonstrations in Raleigh, Morrisville, Durham, Chapel Hill and Pittsboro.
In Morrisville, many were catching the attention of drivers at more than a dozen intersections along Davis Drive Saturday morning.
A protest in downtown Raleigh started at 11 a.m. and drew a large crowd around the State Capitol building and surrounding streets.
"I do not agree with what is going on with the government right now with just arbitrary laying off people that is not the way you cut waste," said Alexandra Kandell, a Raleigh resident. "That is just an abuse of power."
The message to government officials from demonstrators is to keep their "hands off" of federal infrastructure and workforce, impacting industries that provide critical services to many Americans. Labor market data released on Tuesday showed that layoffs in the federal government spiked to their highest level in more than four years.
WRAL reached out to the NC GOP about Saturday's demonstrations. A spokesperson for the GOP said President Trump is taking bold actions to rebuild the nation's economy and make the country a "manufacturing superpower again."
"The efforts of DOGE are targeting waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government and rooting out the entrenched interests that have worked against the forgotten men and women of America."
The protests also come after financial markets had their worst week in years with President Donald Trump announcing stiff new tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, bringing on more economic uncertainty. Trump has promised that the taxes on imports will help restore domestic manufacturing in the U.S. and fund an extension of his 2017 tax cuts.
The Department of Government Efficiency, spearheaded by Elon Musk, has been at the forefront of the layoffs, cutting funding to government programs and eliminating jobs.