Following Musk’s Lede, Trump Called MAGA Mike’s Spending Deal “A Betrayal Of Our Country”

When Will Co-Pres. Musk Decide Who The Next Speaker Will Be?

The election for Speaker is on January 3— two weeks from today. Because of Trump’s support, MAGA Mike nearly had a lock on it— until co-president Musk, hopped up on ketamine or whatever he takes, started tweeting manically all his government shutdown bullshit Wednesday, which blew up the carefully-negotiated government funding deal. As Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) noted, “It is dangerous for House Republicans to have folded to the demands of the richest man on the planet, who nobody elected, after leaders in both parties came to an agreement to fund the government and provide this disaster aid.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Musk had tweeted a veiled threat: “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” After he tweeted at 4:15pm, “This bill should not pass,” the deal was pretty much tanked and the House GOP leadership was in complete disarray. “Over the ensuing 12 hours, Musk went on a prolific tirade against the bill— with more than 60 updates, some of which boosted false claims— that stood out even for a chronic poster who has commanded an audience of more than 200 million followers by broadcasting his largely uninhibited views on the site he owns.” Among the other ways Musk described the bill: “terrible,” “criminal,” “outrageous,” “horrible,” “unconscionable,” “crazy,” and “an insane crime.” If MAGA Mike didn’t know who the boss was before that, he does now.

So on Wednesday evening, before sundown, Capitol Hill energy began flowing into a whispered debate about who the next speaker would be. And, yes, there were even some Republicans suggesting it should be Musk. This imbecile (Musk, not Marjorie Traitor Greene this time) who knows less about how the American political system works— beyond what he can buy with his vast fortune— than a high school freshman.

Longtime political observers were stunned by the swift impact of Musk’s intervention.

Trump stayed largely silent on the measure through Wednesday afternoon, putting Musk in the unusual position of exerting more influence on the bill than the incoming president. Finally, by late afternoon, Trump, too, aired his opposition.

“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” he said in a joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance. “… THIS CHAOS WOULD NOT BE HAPPENING IF WE HAD A REAL PRESIDENT. WE WILL IN 32 DAYS!”

But it was Musk who seemed to force the tipping point.

“Elon is having an incredible effect,” said Gordon Gray, executive director at Pinpoint Policy Institute, a center-right think tank, who noted the “real-time” shift. “I am struggling to recall another instance where an unelected public figure has exercised that kind of influence.”

Still, Musk’s campaign relied on or repeated at least some false claims.

He reposted a claim that the legislation includes a “40% pay raise for Congress,” calling it “unconscionable.” The DOGE account also said on Twitter that the legislation would raise pay for members of Congress to $243,000, up from $174,000.

It is unclear where that number came from. The legislation includes language allowing a 3.8 percent pay bump to take effect, which would result in a pay raise for lawmakers of $6,600— far short of what Musk claimed, according to a statement from Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who said he would oppose the bill because it allowed the pay raise. Congress has blocked its own cost-of-living allowance increases since 2009.

Musk also amplified false claims that the legislation included $3 billion in federal funds for a new football stadium in the District. In fact, the provision would transfer the land where RFK Stadium sits to the local government, but it provided no funding, and the city would still have to negotiate with the National Football League’s Washington Commanders over a stadium deal.

Similarly, Musk shared allegations that the legislation included $60 billion in new aid for Ukraine. Two congressional aides and Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said that they had no idea where the number came from and that the bill appeared to have no major new funds for Kyiv. Congress approved $60 billion in aid for Ukraine this spring.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about— where is that even coming from? Maybe the bill that passed in April?” said one of the aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. “It’s not in there— if you have any evidence of that, I’d like to know.”

But the damage was already done.

Little over a month after an election in which Musk put $277 million behind supporting Trump and other Republicans, the tech entrepreneur appeared to have successfully sunk a continuing resolution to shut down the government.

“A guy who dropped $250 million in the last election and doesn’t blink an eye, and can mobilize Republican voters through his social media platform, that’s an intimidating guy,” said Robert Weissman, the co-president of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group that supports limits on corporate spending in politics. “Having demonstrated his willingness to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, every politician knows they could be next. And the ones most vulnerable are Republicans who might be primaried.”

Wednesday anti-MAGA Mike members started going public with their opposition to him being reelected speaker, predictably Thomas Massie (R-KY) first: “I won’t vote for him… all the grievances I had this summer when we tried to vacate, and then this bill.” Far right extremists Andy Ogles (R-TN), Chip Roy (R-TX), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Eric Burleson (R-MO) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) started fanning the flames.

Greg Steube (R-FL) whined “He committed to the conference a year ago that we weren’t gonna govern by CRs anymore, and we’ve done five. And 43 days after we get a mandate from the American people, we’re gonna work with Democrats to do stuff when a Republican Senate comes in in two weeks?”

Early Thursday, Trump told Fox News he has conditions for MAGA Mike if he wants to remain speaker. Trump said “If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker… Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible.”

Politico termed the dilemma MAGA Mike is now mired in “a total shitstorm, facing down the threat of a government shutdown and demands from an incoming president that he cannot easily deliver on.” Eugene Daniels wrote that “Even before Trump made his debt ceiling demand, some conservatives were so peeved with the CR that they were threatening to oppose Johnson’s bid for speaker early next year. Are those members really going to get behind a snap debt ceiling hike just because Trump said jump?… Trump and his brain trust feel frustrated that Johnson gave away concessions to Democrats without giving Trump the debt ceiling hike he wanted. But here’s the thing— Johnson probably wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for Musk, who spent all day Wednesday stoking rage on the right over Johnson’s deal. There was little evidence Trump cared much about the CR before that. We’re told that Trump’s team was aware of the contours of the deal and did not object. It was not a matter of debate during Saturday’s Army-Navy game discussion, which focused mostly on reconciliation. And we’re also told Republicans passed off the details of the deal to those close with Trump… Musk got waaay out over his spending-slashing skis and backed Trump into a corner… Trump got caught flat-footed as Musk’s opposition spread like wildfire, igniting the right— and thus had to chime in with his own concerns.

Can something good come of all this chaos? How about getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely— a good idea except for the current president-elect. How about getting rid of it but have the implementation come in 2029? In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be the “smartest thing it [Congress] could do. I would support that entirely… The Democrats have said they want to get rid of it. If they want to get rid of it, I would lead the charge… It doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically.”

Melanie Zanona and Mica Soellner reported this morning that “The question now is whether any of the Republicans who dared to defy Trump will face repercussions. Trump already called for a primary challenge to Roy, who excoriated his Republican colleagues in a blistering floor speech. Some Republicans were irritated by Roy’s actions. Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) suggested Roy ‘thinks he’s more important than the incoming president.’ Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), a fellow Freedom Caucus member, told us he thought Roy could have used more ‘finesse’ or been ‘gentler’ in how he communicated his opposition. But plenty of Freedom Caucus members rallied to Roy’s defense. Perry called him a ‘friend’ and ‘good man.’ Ogles praised Roy for ‘working diligently.’ Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) predicted it would be difficult to defeat Roy in a primary. And Massie said once you survive a Trump-fueled primary challenge— like he did— then you have the ‘antibodies.’ Massie also said Trump can’t primary every single Republican who opposed the CR since there were so many of them.” 

They also reported that “Roy downplayed the threats and whether he’d need to repair his relationship with Trump. ‘We’ll figure all that out going forward,’ he said. ‘Politics doesn’t drive me. What drives me is saving the country and more debt isn’t going to save the country.’ As far as other forms of blowback, we asked whether Massie, who won’t back Johnson for speaker, was worried about being kicked off the House Rules Committee. But Massie told us he already offered to be taken off the panel next year. He said Johnson is ‘thinking’ about following through on this offer.”