Elon Musk flexes his political muscle, sending government on path to shutdown

Musk’s unprecedented online influence appeared to fully torpedo the government spending bill in a way no Republican lawmaker could have done from inside Capitol Hill.

During the Army-Navy football game over the weekend, Elon Musk posted a photo of the giant screen perched over the field showing four faces in focus. President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and Musk looking toward the camera. In the background, looking down, was House Speaker Mike Johnson. The symbolism of such an image - and Musk posting it - is hard to miss. Musk stands directly behind Trump and Vance, more prominently than the speaker (who is third in line to the presidency). A few days later, Musk would make perhaps his most impactful flex of his newfound political power, helping to torpedo a spending bill put forth by Johnson with bipartisan support to fund the government and avoid a shutdown as soon as Friday evening. While some conservatives were already skeptical of the continuing resolution even before it was officially published, Musk and his co-Department of Government Efficiency leader Vivek Ramaswamy suddenly began blasting the bill online Wednesday, riling up their tens of millions of supporters with posts stoking outrage about its contents. “This bill should not pass,” Musk wrote on X at 4:15 a.m. ET, kicking off what would become a blizzard of posts about the legislation. It was only a matter of time before the bill died. But Musk’s unprecedented online influence seemed to fully torpedo the spending bill in a way no Republican lawmaker could have done from inside Capitol Hill.