Elon Musk comes out swinging against government spending package in early test of his political might

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk during a meeting with House Republicans in Washington, DC, U.S. on November 13, 2024. (Allison Robbert/Pool/Reuters/File via CNN Newsource)

New York — 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.

“Remember guys, we still have just a razor thin margin of Republicans, so any bill has to have Democrat votes. They understand the situation. They said, ‘this is not directed to you Mr. Speaker but we don’t like the spending.’ I said, ‘guess what fellas, I don’t either,’” Johnson said.

Several Republican members of Congress have also voiced opposition to the bill, with Musk amplifying many of their comments on his social platform.

South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman said that any member that supports the DOGE efforts - led by Musk and Ramaswamy - should be opposed to the stopgap bill.

“Any Member who claims to support DOGE should not support this ‘CR of Inefficiency’ that does not have offsets!! Don’t get weak in the knees before we even get started!,” Norman posted.

In order to pass the spending measure, Johnson will need roughly 90 members of his own conference to support it.

House Republicans acknowledged that Musk’s pressure campaign has sway on the conference, but not everyone is bending to the pressure – for now. But as multiple GOP lawmakers field calls after Musk unleashed his millions of followers on their offices, the most important voice in the conversation, Trump, remained silent.

“We will see the new the new power of Elon” GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, who is against the spending bill and hopes Musk’s pressure campaign sways his colleagues, told CNN.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said “people put a lot of stock” in what Musk has to say but downplayed the impact it has on his colleagues.

The incoming vice chair of the House GOP caucus, Rep. Lisa McClain, told CNN “he’s not a member of Congress, but I do think he, you know, he’s a successful business owner, and he’s on the DOGE caucus. So, you know it go. It cuts both ways.”

One moderate GOP Rep. Don Bacon, who supports the package, told CNN that Musk was “premature” for coming out against it so quickly when there are a lot of Republican “wins” tucked in.

“He should have gotten the facts” Bacon added.

But retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko, who is voting against the package said she “absolutely” hopes Musk’s public play will sway more of her colleagues to grow.

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CNN’s Haley Talbot contributed.