Social media warnings from the world’s richest man preceded Donald Trump’s condemnation of a measure negotiated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that effectively killed the stopgap measure designed to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government.
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Washington was in trouble a day after Elon Musk’s public pressure campaign. On Thursday, Donald Trump initially refused to say whether he had confidence in Mr. Johnson. But later in the day, he praised him and House leaders for producing “a very good deal,” after announcing a new plan to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling.
Before the new deal was reached, congressional Democrats mocked their Republican counterparts, with several suggesting Donald Trump had been relegated to vice president.
“Welcome to Elon Musk’s presidency,” California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia wrote on X.
What is clear, however, is Elon Musk’s rise as a political force, a level of influence made possible by his great wealth. In addition to being the owner of X, the billionaire is the CEO of Tesla and Space X.
“There’s no question that he has a lot of influence with Republicans right now because of his proximity to Donald Trump,” said Chris Pack, former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund.
But Mr. Pack also said Elon Musk’s threats pose potential risks to House Republicans, who will begin next year with a five-seat majority that will temporarily shrink due to Donald Trump’s nomination of some Republican lawmakers in administrative positions.
“It’s not going to help pass the agenda if you’re going to cost a group of Republicans razor-thin moderate seats and lose them in the primaries,” Mr. Pack said. “All this does is hand the keys to these districts to the Democrats.”
Elon Musk spent about $250 million during the presidential campaign to support Donald Trump, contributing largely to America PAC, a super political action committee that deployed canvassers, aired television ads and reached voters digitally in key states . He signaled after the election that he was prepared to support the Republican Party’s primary challenges against Republican members of Congress seeking re-election in 2026 who are wavering on Donald Trump’s nominations and agenda.
He renewed his threat in a pointed manner on Wednesday.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in two years!” he wrote about X. He also called it “one of the worst bills ever written.”
Elon Musk was not alone in stoking GOP anger over the bill, which included several compromise measures to win Democratic support in the Senate in the final weeks before Republicans took control of that chamber.
Ramaswamy in support
Biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is Elon Musk’s partner in heading the new Department of Government Effectiveness, also posted messages against the bill, as did his son Donald Trump’s eldest child, Donald Trump Jr.
Elon Musk has sometimes downplayed his role, suggesting after some online praise: “All I can do is draw people’s attention to certain things, so they can express their support if they want to.” . And the president-elect told NBC News that he spoke to Elon Musk before the Tesla CEO’s first messages.
“I told him if he agreed with me, he could issue a statement,” Trump said.
Karoline Leavitt, the new White House press secretary, pushed back against Democratic criticism that suggested Elon Musk was calling the shots.
“As soon as President Trump released his official position on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his views,” Ms. Leavitt said in a statement, referring to the pending resolution. “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Period.”
Throughout the day on Wednesday, Elon Musk responded to messages posted on X by Republican members of the House of Representatives announcing their opposition to the bill with words of thanks and punctuating their public commitments.
And he took a victory lap after Donald Trump spoke out against the bill: “The voice of the people has been heard. It was a good day for America.”
He was responding to Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr’s message: “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing today. And you know why? Because they were reading tweets (…) from Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.”
Late Thursday afternoon and before the new plan was put to a vote, Elon Musk declared success and posted a photo of the new slimmed-down alternative alongside the bulky and original measure he helped create. have an abortion. “This shows how much your voice matters,” he posted. “And having a president like DonaldTrump means your voice is finally being heard.”
Conservative activists at the annual AmericaFest gathering in Phoenix cheered Elon Musk on Thursday and welcomed the suggestion that he could replace Mr. Johnson as House speaker. The president need not be an elected member of the House of Representatives.
“Should Mike Johnson Remain Speaker of the House?” conservative host Jack Posobiec asked his audience during a live taping of his talk show, prompting a chorus of “Noooooo!!!” of his audience.
Mr Johnson was due to attend AmericaFest but canceled after the budget deal collapsed.
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