Elon Musk comes out swinging against government spending package in early test of his political might
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Elon Musk derided a Republican-backed government spending bill that if not passed by Friday night would lead to a government shut down.
In a flurry of posts Wednesday on his social media platform X, Elon Musk derided a Republican-backed government spending bill that if not passed by Friday night would lead to a government shut down.
“This bill should not pass,” Musk posted Wednesday morning, responding to a post by Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leader of President-elect Donald Trump’s advisory group Department of Government Efficiency.
“Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?” Musk posted alongside a photo of a printed copy of the bill, known as a continuing resolution.
In more than two dozen posts, Musk assailed the bill on various points, calling it “criminal” for including funding for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, an agency tasked with fighting foreign propaganda and misinformation, which Musk called a “censorship operation.”
The public battle sets up an early test of Musk and Ramaswamy’s political might as they look to slash government spending, including at least US$2 trillion in federal programs, a figure experts have called unrealistic.
Musk, the world’s richest person, also derided a pay increase for members of Congress in the bill, pinning the post to the top of his X profile. Musk also appeared to issue an electoral threat to members of Congress who vote for the bill, writing “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” He also urged his followers to call their representatives to “stop the steal of your tax dollars.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has defended the bill, calling it a necessary stopgap until the party takes control of Congress next year. Speaking on Fox News Wednesday morning, Johnson said he was texting with Musk and Ramaswamy to explain the background on the bill.
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