The power of Musk
Despite what Donald Trump And J.D. Vance Perhaps the chaos on Capitol Hill this week can be traced back to one man: Elon Musk.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had struck a deal with the Democrats that was, for all intents and purposes, a typical 1,500-page behemoth of a funding bill.
But despite the bill’s imperfections, there was an agreement that seemed to have wrapped up all the loose ends for the year. Members of Congress and their staffs were packing their bags and doing their final Christmas shopping in Washington.
Then Musk intervened.
With more than 100 posts on his own platform to be voted out in 2 years!” – Musk managed to blow up months of negotiations, leaving Johnson in trouble.
Considering that he doesn’t seem to know that only 19 Republican senators will be up for re-election in 2026, I’m a bit skeptical about whether Musk knows exactly how a bill becomes law. This summary from Johnson made it sound like he needed to explain how the process for getting approval for spending typically works. And there is a real question as to whether Musk would follow through on his threat to fund primary opponents against anyone who opposes Trump’s agenda.
But what this week made clear is that Musk has more power than the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is second only to the presidency. And maybe even the vice president-elect. I mean, where is Vance anyway these days?
Further confirmation of Johnson’s weakness came when Trump was asked about his confidence in him. Trump responded: “We’ll see. What they had yesterday was unacceptable… It’s a trap for the Democrats.” If this week has made one thing clear: Musk’s X account will provide one hell of a ride in Washington this January.
A story you should follow: Democrats pass over AOC for an oversight role
This week, Democrats in the House of Representatives voted 131-84 to remove Rep. Gerry Connolly74, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. While Connolly, an eight-term Democrat, brings a wealth of experience to the position, this vote feels like a major missed opportunity to place a highly influential communicator as a senior member of one of the few House of Representatives committees that attract national attention.
According to The New York Times, Connolly benefited from strong behind-the-scenes support from Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. The outcome wasn’t particularly close, even as Democrats this week embraced a generational change in other key leadership roles.
The good news is that Ocasio-Cortez will undoubtedly continue to be at the forefront of the Democratic Party’s message. But Democrats will have to fire on all cylinders if they hope to gain national attention for key debates in the Oversight Committee following Rep. Jamie Raskin’s departure from the role.
Another Story You Should Follow: Trailing Supreme Court Candidate Asks Same Court to Throw Out 60,000 Ballots
Topping the growing list of shockingly anti-democratic moves by North Carolina Republicans, this week’s Republican state Supreme Court nominee Jefferson Griffin asked the North Carolina Supreme Court to throw out 60,000 ballots from last month’s election.
Griffin, who follows Democratic Justice Allison Riggs with only 734 votes, he claims these ballots are invalid because some voters did not have a driver’s license or Social Security number, and others living abroad did not include photo ID with their ballots.
All three of those challenges were rejected last week by North Carolina’s Democratic-controlled state elections board. However, now that the North Carolina Supreme Court has a 5-2 Republican majority, Griffin is counting on a more favorable ruling.
This isn’t the Republican Party’s first attempt to undermine North Carolina voters. In October, Republicans attempted to remove 225,000 voters from the voter rolls just weeks before Election Day, but failed. That attempt was rejected by a federal judge, but the state Supreme Court could still take a different approach.
Good news: Biden appoints 233 federal judges
As his term comes to an end, President Joe Biden strengthens a historic judicial legacy and, as of this week, appoints a total of 233 judges, including more judges of color than any president before him. On Monday, Tiffany Johnson became the 40th Black woman confirmed to a lifetime federal judgeship under Biden — more than any president in a single term. Overall, 60% of his appointees are people of color, part of his goal to reform the judiciary to better reflect America.
Biden’s appointments include Justice Ketanji Brown Jacksonthe first Black woman on the Supreme Court, and a record number of former public defenders and civil rights attorneys. As Senate Democrats rush to confirm more nominees before Republicans gain control of the Senate, these nominees will undoubtedly shape the judiciary for decades to come.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
