Elon Musk's aggressive push for emergency measures to prevent a government shutdown appeared to be a success, with President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance expressing opposition to the measures. , received mixed reactions from House Republicans.
Musk and Vivek Ramaswami, the co-leaders of President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), on Wednesday announced that they would be closing the more than 1,500-page stopgap released days before the Dec. 20 government shutdown. He posted a series of posts online slamming the spending deal. deadline.
Tech entrepreneurs argued that the deal runs counter to the DOGE committee's goals, which focused on reducing government spending and bureaucracy.
Amid the barrage of opposition, House Republicans echoed their concerns about the bill, with Trump and Vance ultimately announcing their opposition to the continuing resolution (CR) by Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance called on the House to pass a “clean” CR combined with a measure to raise the debt ceiling.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is currently considering Plan B options amid a pressure campaign, and appears likely to move toward the president-elect's plan.
Asked about Musk and Ramaswamy's influence over the seemingly divided Republican conference, one Republican lawmaker said they were “influential voices” on Capitol Hill.
“They are poised to be deeply involved in implementing President Donald Trump's policies, and we want to help make that happen, and we intend to work very closely together on ongoing legislation and future developments. We value their opinion on the bill. It will come in due course,” said the lawmaker, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity.
“I think a lot of members are concerned about the extraneous provisions that are in this bill and the content of it. [Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s] “These voices have only exacerbated that concern,” the lawmaker added.
Musk called on members not to vote in favor of CR, describing the bill as a big piece of “pork.”
He escalated his remarks by the afternoon, calling for lawmakers who support the bill to be voted out of office and proposing a moratorium on all legislation until President Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
In a lengthy post on social platform
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) reposted Ramaswamy's statement, calling it a “great summary of some of the reasons” he plans to vote against CR.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) told The Hill when asked if he had spoken to Musk about the bill. I read his tweet. ”
Rep. Dan Bishop, RN.C., the incoming deputy budget director for the Office of Management and Budget, echoed Musk's comments and hinted that outsiders like Musk are here to stay.
“For five years in Congress, I have been waiting for a fundamental change in power relations. It has arrived” Bishop I wrote to X.
other republicansMusk reposted on X, including Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Rep. Keith Self (Texas). In my own handwriting“We won. @HouseGOP should start acting like that too.”
The debate over CR is the latest test of Musk's influence on Capitol Hill, as both Musk and Ramaswamy become increasingly involved in parliamentary affairs.
Last week, Musk made a last-minute statement of support for a massive online safety bill for kids. Even though senators were confident Musk's comments would help pass the bill in the House, concerns about free speech also meant that the Kids Online Safety Act ended up on the House floor. It was never included in CR.
Musk and Ramaswamy visited the U.S. Capitol earlier this month to discuss DOGE's priorities, where they received a generally warm welcome from many Republicans who have consistently called for cuts to government spending and bureaucracy.
Still, some Republicans aren't convinced Musk and Ramaswamy have the power to change their colleagues' minds at this point.
Others claimed they were unfazed by pressure from Trump's allies but believed their colleagues could use it as justification for a “no” vote.
“Anyone who does [be] It's probably going to affect the people who always vote no,” House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) told The Hill. “That would be a perfect excuse to vote against CR.”
“We found that people who tweet a lot are trying to be relevant and find relevance,” he added.
Representative Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) called Musk's comments “premature” and quipped that he “should have known the facts.”
As expected, some Democrats also resisted Musk and Ramaswamy's involvement.
“And just like that, Republican unelected co-president Elon Musk on Friday defeated a bill that would have prevented a government shutdown. All he had to do was post a few things on social media. ,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida). I wrote to X.
“They may be [have influence here] But they have no control over this process,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Connecticut), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “This is a parliamentary process. … This is a process specific to Congress, not specific to two outside consultants who are billionaires.”
The Hill's Emily Brooks contributed.
