In the first major flex of his influence since the election of Donald Trump, Elon Musk suddenly brought a bipartisan budget proposal to a halt by posting continuously on his X-megaphone and threatening Republicans with primary challenges.
The social media warnings from the world’s richest man preceded Trump’s condemnation of a measure negotiated by Republican Chairman Mike Johnson, effectively ending the emergency measure intended to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government was bypassed.
A day after Musk’s public pressure campaign, Washington was in turmoil. Trump declined to say Thursday whether he had confidence in Johnson, telling NBC News: “We’ll see.” And there was no clear path to keeping the government open beyond Friday, raising the specter of a government shutdown ahead of the holidays. Congressional Democrats mocked their Republican counterparts, with several suggesting Trump had been demoted to vice president.
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
“Welcome to Elon Musk’s presidency,” Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California wrote on X.
What has been clear, however, is Musk’s rise as a political force, a level of influence made possible by his vast wealth. In addition to being the owner of X, Musk is also CEO of Tesla and Space X.
“There’s no question that he has a lot of influence with Republicans right now because of his close relationship with Trump,” said Chris Pack, former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund.
But Pack also said Musk’s threats pose potential risks for Republicans in the House of Representatives, who will start next year with a five-seat majority that will temporarily shrink due to Trump’s appointment of some Republican lawmakers to executive posts.
“This isn’t going to help pass the agenda if you’re going to cost a bunch of Republicans in very thin moderate seats if you let them lose in the primaries,” Pack said. “All that does is give the keys to these districts to the Democrats.”
Musk spent an estimated $250 million supporting Trump during the presidential campaign, making a major contribution to America PAC, a super political action committee that has deployed canvassers, aired TV ads and digitally reached voters in battleground states. He had indicated after the elections that he was willing to support primary challenges from the Republican Congress Party who want to be re-elected in 2026 and who doubt Trump’s appointments and agenda.
On Wednesday he emphatically repeated the threat.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this excessive spending bill deserves to be voted out of office within two years!” he wrote on X. He also called it “one of the worst bills ever written.”
Musk wasn’t the only one fueling Republican anger over the bill, which included several compromise measures to gain Democratic support in the Senate in the final weeks before Republicans took control of that chamber. Biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk’s partner who heads the government’s new Department of Efficiency, has also spoken out against the bill, as has Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
Musk at times downplayed his role, suggesting after some praise online: “All I can do is bring things to people’s attention so they can express their support if they want to.” And the president-elect told NBC News that he spoke with Musk prior to the Tesla CEO’s initial posts.
“I told him if he agreed with me, he could make a statement,” Trump said.
But throughout the day on Wednesday, Musk responded to messages on X from Republican House members announcing his opposition to the bill with words of thanks and underscoring their public commitments.
And he took a victory lap after Trump spoke out against the bill: “The voice of the people was heard. This was a good day for America.”
He responded to Kentucky Rep.’s post. Andy Barr: “The phone was ringing off the hook today. And do you know why? Because they read tweets… from Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.”
___
Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
