How did Elon Musk help stop a bipartisan budget deal?
In his first major show of influence since the election of Donald Trump, Elon Musk abruptly halted a bipartisan budget proposal by constantly tweeting on his megaphone and threatening Republicans with primary challenges.
Social media warnings from the world’s richest man preceded Mr. Trump’s condemnation of the measure negotiated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, which effectively ended the temporary measure designed to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government.
Washington gushed a day after a public pressure campaign by Mr. Musk. Mr. Trump on December 19 first declined to say whether he trusted Mr. Johnson. But later in the day, Trump praised him and House leaders for reaching a “very good deal,” after they announced a new plan to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling.
Before the new deal was reached, Democrats in Congress mocked their GOP counterparts, many of whom suggested that Trump had been moved to the vice presidency.
“Welcome to an Elon Musk presidency,” Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California wrote on X.
But what was clear was Mr. Musk’s rise as a political force, a level of influence enabled by his great wealth. In addition to owning Company X, Mr. Musk is CEO of Tesla and Space
“There’s no doubt that he has a lot of influence over Republicans right now because of his closeness to Trump,” said Chris Buck, former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee and Senate Leadership Fund.
But Mr. Pack also said that Mr. Musk’s threats pose potential risks to House Republicans, who will start next year with a five-seat majority that will be temporarily diminished by Mr. Trump’s nomination of some GOP lawmakers to administration positions.
“It’s not going to help the agenda pass if you’re going to cost a bunch of Republicans very few moderate seats if you’re going to make them lose in the primaries,” Mr. Pack said. “All he’s doing is handing the keys to these districts to the Democrats.”
Mr. Musk spent an estimated $250 million during the presidential campaign to support Mr. Trump, and contributed heavily to America PAC, a super PAC that deployed voters, aired television ads, and reached voters digitally in battleground states. He signaled after the election that he was willing to support GOP primary challenges to Republican members of Congress seeking re-election in 2026 who are hesitant about Mr. Trump’s appointments and agenda.
The threat was clearly renewed on December 18.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this obscene spending bill deserves to be voted on in two years!” He wrote on the X. He also called it “one of the worst bills ever written.”
Mr. Musk was not alone in raising GOP ire against the bill, which included several compromise measures to gain support from Democrats in the Senate in the final weeks before Republicans took control of that chamber. Biotech entrepreneur and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, an associate of Mr. Musk who is leading the new government Department of Efficiency, also opposed the bill, as did Mr. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
Mr Musk has downplayed his role at times, suggesting after some online praise, “All I can do is bring things to people’s attention, so they can express their support if they so choose.” The president-elect told NBC News that he spoke to Mr. Musk ahead of the Tesla CEO’s first engagements.
“I told him that if he agreed with me, he could issue a statement,” Trump said.
Carolyn Leavitt, the incoming White House press secretary, responded to Democratic critics who suggested that Mr. Musk was calling the shots.
“As soon as President Trump issued his official position on the Czech Republic, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his view,” Mr. Levitt said in a statement, referring to the ongoing resolution. “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. “Full stop.”
Throughout the day on December 18, Mr. Musk responded to posts by House Republicans on X, in which they announced their opposition to the bill with words of thanks and outlined their public commitments.
He gave a victory hug after Mr. Trump came out against the bill: “The voice of the people has been heard. “This was a good day for America.”
He was responding to Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr’s post: “The phone was ringing off the hook today. And do you know why? Because they were reading the tweets…from Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.”
By the late afternoon of December 19, before the new plan was put to a vote, Mr. Musk declared it a success and posted a photo of the new, scaled-down alternative alongside the original, massive measure he had helped stop. “This shows how important your voice is,” he said. “And having a president like @realDonaldTrump means your voice is finally being heard.”
Conservative activists at the annual AmericaFest gathering in Phoenix cheered Mr. Musk on Dec. 19 and praised the proposal that he could replace Mr. Johnson as speaker. There is no requirement that the speaker be an elected member of the House of Representatives.
“Should Mike Johnson remain Speaker of the House?” conservative media host Jack Posobiec asked his audience during a live taping of his talk show, eliciting a chorus of “NOOOOO!!!” From his audience.
Mr Johnson was scheduled to attend AmericaFest, but it was canceled after a budget deal collapsed.
“Should Elon Musk be Speaker of the House?” Mr. Posobiec asked his audience, drawing cheers.
This story was reported by the Associated Press. Thomas Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. AP Writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report from Phoenix.