U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Via Reuters
As Congress regroups following another averted government shutdown, Democratic lawmakers are increasingly calling into question the level of influence Elon Musk has over President-elect Donald Trump as the latter prepares to enter the White House in just a few weeks.
Last week, Trump – with help from Musk – effectively killed a 1,500-page bipartisan funding legislation drafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R.-La., to fund the government beyond Friday. Following 11th-hour negotiations, Congress and President Joe Biden eventually passed a bill in the early hours of Saturday morning.
But Musk has come under fire from some Democrats claiming his tweets interfered with the legislative process. With more than 208 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, Musk voiced his opposition to the bill in several dozens of posts.
“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.
His comments led some critics of Trump to point out that Musk seems to be calling the shots, mockingly calling him “President Musk.” In response, Musk tried to downplay those claims, and a Trump spokesperson issued a statement saying, “President Trump is the leader of the Republican party. Full stop.”
Still, some lawmakers think otherwise. House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said their Republican colleagues caved to Musk’s demands, which they argue were driven by his interest in maintaining good relations with China.
In response, Congressman French Hill, R-Ark., said Sunday morning on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he doesn’t “believe that was at the heart of the 1,500-page problem” and emphasized the need for the Republican party to work together because of the narrow majority.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also slammed Musk for his role in the legislative process, posting, “Last time I checked, nobody voted for the richest man in the world to run the federal government.”
Lawmakers respond to power dynamics
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Republican Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty praised Musk’s ability to “bring transparency” to the proposed bill through posting on X, adding that his office was inundated with calls from constituents after Musk posted about the contents of the bill.
“Thank God Elon Musk bought Twitter, because that’s the only way we would even know what’s in this bill. Otherwise, the conspiracy between the government and Twitter would have continued, and this would have all been covered up,” Hagerty said.
When asked about the power balance between Trump and Musk, Hagerty said Trump is “clearly the leader.”
Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that he believes Musk reflects the voice of the American people.
“It’s kind of interesting. We have a president, we have a vice president, we have a speaker. It feels like Elon Musk is our prime minister,” Gonzales said, emphasizing the need for Republicans to stay united as Trump prepares to enter office.
That sentiment was echoed by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, who said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the chaos of last week is a “predictor of what’s likely to happen” again in March, when the deal expires and Congress returns to the negotiation table.
He also highlighted the lack of unity among Republicans in the negotiations last week, saying he believes it will be difficult for the party to pass much of Trump’s agenda once he takes office.
“We’re not just going to have President-elect Trump as a billionaire rage tweeting at 4 a.m. – we’re going to have Elon Musk also injecting instability into how we tackle very complicated and important issues for our country,” Coons said.