It was government shutdown season in Washington, and all through the House, many creatures were stirring — most notably Elon Musk.
Lawmakers in Congress expected a smooth path to the holidays. They had a bipartisan deal that would keep the government funded and send them all on their merry way back to their districts.
But then, with Donald Trump back in the White House and Musk, the world’s richest man, wielding enormous power over the political process, they got a taste of what the next four years might look like.
On Wednesday, Trump — with Musk’s help — effectively killed the funding legislation that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had put together. The 1,500-page bill, filled with the byproduct of traditional horse-trading, was meant to keep the government running.
Conservative Republicans and right-wing talkers blasted the plan as the kind of status quo Washington politics that Trump campaigned to end during the election. But, as negotiations continued, the president-elect remained on the sidelines.
That changed late Wednesday, when Trump called the plan “ridiculous and extraordinarily expensive,” and killed it.
Less than a day later, House Republicans released a 116-page plan to keep the government open through March 14. This new plan had the backing of both Trump and Musk, the billionaire who had become the Republicans’ biggest 2024 political donor and a frequent presence in Trump’s orbit.
Despite significant arm-twisting and primary threats from Trump and his allies, the new plan went down in flames on the House floor Thursday night, facing considerable Republican opposition.
With less than a day left before a potential government shutdown, the failure marked a defeat for Trump, who, despite his election win, still cannot single-handedly control everything that happens in Washington.
“A veteran Republican operative said, ‘To say this is alarming and a setback is an absolute understatement.'”
Even in its failure, the budget deal negotiations revealed new political truths. President Joe Biden’s complete silence on the negotiations left a void, allowing Trump to position himself as a second president. Meanwhile, Johnson’s status as speaker now depends on keeping Trump satisfied, and Musk’s role as a key player with both muscle and money is no longer hypothetical. He now has the ability to sway votes and potentially end political careers.
‘A new sheriff in town’
Musk has his money, but he also has his megaphone. With more than 208 million followers on the social media platform X — not surprising since he owns the site — Musk has a powerful voice.
Spending over $250 million to help get Trump elected, Musk posted about his opposition to the original spending deal more than 100 times over the past two days. He even threatened to fund primary challenges against anyone who voted for the plan, which had taken six weeks to negotiate.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk posted Wednesday afternoon on X.
Later in the day, Trump joined the opposition, making it clear that the bill was finished.
Musk’s prominent role in the saga has drawn new scrutiny of his position as an unelected official and the power he seems to have in influencing votes. Trump has appointed Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new nongovernment agency aimed at increasing “government efficiency.”
Trump’s team quickly moved to dismiss any suggestion that Musk was truly pulling the strings.
“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the [continuing resolution], Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.”
On Thursday morning, Trump quickly told NBC News in a phone interview that Musk’s flurry of social media posts opposing the original deal had his blessing.
“I told him that if he agrees with me, he could put out a statement,” Trump said. “He’s looking at things from a cost standpoint.”
Donald Trump Jr. — who had also posted in opposition to the first bill — said in a brief interview Thursday that the original continuing resolution his father effectively sank was “ridiculous.”
When asked about Musk’s and his father’s roles in torpedoing the resolution, Trump Jr. said, “I think they both agree on the insanity of what was in there: 1,500 pages that no one could possibly digest.”
The shutdown fight tested Trump’s ability to rally Republicans who do not yet control the White House or the Senate, while highlighting the role Musk is likely to play at least in the early days of Trump’s second administration.
After the original deal fell apart, some Democrats began calling Musk the functional president-elect, while some Republican budget hawks urged him to replace Johnson as speaker of the House.
“It appears that Elon Musk is trying to take the role of an unelected president. And in fact, Donald Trump appears to be following his orders,” Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said Thursday on CNN.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., posted on social media. “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk … think about it… nothing’s impossible. (Not to mention the joy of seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).”
Many of Fox News’ prime-time hosts, all famously MAGA allies, were particularly pleased with Musk’s efforts to kill the bill Wednesday night.
Sean Hannity declared, “There’s a new sheriff in town.” Jesse Watters said Musk “blew up the bill all day.”
By Thursday morning, “Fox and Friends,” the network’s flagship morning program, marveled at the new power Musk wielded.
“Musk is now the center of the universe on Capitol Hill in a way that nobody has ever seen,” Peter Doocy said.
After the new bill was announced, Musk pushed back against significant chatter that he was the true architect, instead crediting Trump and Johnson.
“I’m not the author of this proposal,” he posted. “Credit to @realDonaldTrump, @JdVance, and @SpeakerJohnson.”
No plan forward for now
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas was one of the Republicans who rejected the new Trump-backed spending deal on Thursday.
“Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday in certain respects, but to take this bill… and congratulate yourself because it’s shorter in pages — but increases the debt by $5 trillion — is asinine, and that’s precisely what Republicans are doing,” Roy said in a fiery floor speech before the so-called plan B budget deal was defeated.
Roy was one of the most vocal Republicans opposing the reconfigured budget deal, primarily because of Trump’s request to abolish the country’s debt ceiling — a frequent political issue — without significant spending cuts in return. Nearly 40 Republican members of the House joined him in defeating the deal. The proposal the House voted on would have extended the debt ceiling until January 2027.
Roy’s public opposition prompted direct threats from Trump about a potential primary challenge, which included a mention of former Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, who lost to a Trump-backed challenger earlier this year.
Conservative media threatened Johnson’s speakership, but he appeared to have maintained Trump’s support for now by bringing the new deal to the floor. After its failure, Johnson tried to push forward with attempts at a budget deal.
“We will regroup and come up with another solution, so stay tuned,” Johnson told reporters after his second attempt at a budget deal failed on the House floor.
Still, at a gathering of conservative activists in Phoenix on Thursday, attendees celebrated their success in sinking the original legislation.
“In just the last 24 hours, we did something that we never would have been able to do before,” Charlie Kirk, the CEO of Turning Point, said at its annual AmericaFest conference. “I want to show the power that you have — you, everybody in this room and everyone watching online — you defeated the Washington insiders in hours, everybody, and that CR is dead.”
However, the proposal’s defeat left no plan in place as the clock ticks down toward a government shutdown — one that could stretch into the holidays and January when a new Congress will take office, election results will need to be certified, and Trump is set to be inaugurated.
“There is no new agreement right now, just, you know, obviously looking at a number of options,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters after the second budget deal was defeated.
After the vote, Musk blamed Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York for the GOP-led House’s rejection of the proposal.
“Objectively, the vast majority of Republican House members voted for the spending bill, but only 2 Democrats did,” he posted on X. “Therefore, if the government shuts down, it is obviously the fault of @RepJeffries and the Democratic Party.”
The Trump-approved budget deal included disaster relief for states hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton, funds for construction projects and environmental cleanup, an extension of the farm bill, and millions for conservation efforts and rural development disaster assistance.
However, it also removed several provisions, and Republicans did not consult Democrats when putting together the new legislation, unlike in the first deal.
Blindsided Democrats largely opposed the proposal, arguing that Americans would suffer due to the significant spending cuts from the original deal. They directed their anger at Musk’s role in shaping the plan.
“Elon Musk ordered his puppet President-elect and House Republicans to break the bipartisan agreement reached to keep government open,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, wrote on X. “House Republicans are abdicating their responsibility to the American people and siding with billionaires and special interests.”
Jeffries used his House floor speech to turn the spending issue back on Republicans and Trump’s first four years in office.
“In our nation’s history, 25% of our nation’s debt accumulated during the four years of the former president, 25%. How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility — ever,” he said.
Trump, who spent considerable political capital pushing the second proposed spending plan, has yet to comment on its failure. But Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., suggested that if Trump spoke out again, it might make a difference.
“Quite honestly, I think one of the ways that this could get fixed fairly quickly would be if President Trump would come up to Washington tomorrow or spend the weekend here and talk to people face to face,” he said Thursday evening. “Let’s face it. … He’s got a lot of sway and persuasion. He acts more like the sitting president than the sitting president. And if he’d come up, I think he could help move things along.”
