Elon Musk puts unprecendented outsize influence on display in government funding fight: ANALYSIS

Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, owns one of the largest communication platforms and is increasingly politically active. Washington sees for the first time how powerful that mix is.

Such a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump that he is informally referred to as “first friend,” Musk was instrumental in gutting the bipartisan government funding bill, mocking it as full of “pigs” after lawmakers added disaster aid. victims and farmers beyond delaying the government shutdown.

Now, the man who is there It is said to be worth more than $450 billionis establishing itself as a Washington power player – there is little historical precedent for it.

“I think there are multiple examples, but Elon Musk is bigger than any previous businessman in the administration,” said a source close to Trump’s transition.

“You have what I think is the intersection of three different arcs: a man of great wealth, a man with the largest and most efficient communications system in the world, combined with someone who cares about one of the biggest issues that Americans care about.” person has been added, referring to the amount of government spending.

Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill appeared earlier this week to pass a funding bill that would avert a shutdown that would have started early Saturday. Some Republicans were complaining about the size of the bill and the additions for disaster recovery and farmers that go along with the compensation, but the legislation was scheduled to pass both houses of Congress with support from Democrats.

Musk then responded.

“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X.

“Please call your elected officials immediately to tell them how you feel! They are trying to get this accepted today while no one is paying attention,” she added in a second message to her more than 200 million followers.

Soon, the desertions began.

After House Republicans announced they would oppose the bill. In the end, Trump himself weighed in, pushing a clean-cut bill that also eliminated the debt ceiling — a limit on what the government is allowed to borrow that will be enforced during his term but could also create a third rail in US politics. high risk of preventing the approval of the financing bill.

Criticism grew loud enough to send Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other House leaders back to the drawing board, figuring out just enough language to keep the lights on with Trump, Musk and House Republicans. .

But the danger to House Republicans, from their leaders to the smallest backbenchers, became clear.

“If the speaker acts decisively and tough, and removes all the traps that the Democrats are setting that will destroy our country financially and otherwise, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump said. said Fox News Digitaldiverging from his recent statements offering firmer support for Johnson as he seeks the reins in the next Congress.

And Trump will not be alone in these kinds of threats, it seems.

A source familiar with the thinking of the Senate leadership expressed skepticism that Musk would be able to bend the Senate to his will, but acknowledged that he has significant influence with the president-elect and House Republicans, whose biennial election efforts are weakened. Consequences of crossing Trump.

“He certainly has influence and he certainly has the ability to listen,” the source said.

House Republicans, for their part, don’t seem to have a problem.

Already, some lawmakers are flirting with the far-fetched idea of ​​Musk becoming House speaker over Johnson. And, the spending spree said, if a slimmed-down funding bill is the result of Musk’s intervention, the more the merrier.

“Elon Musk is going to cause trouble for Congress, but it’s good. Really, really good. I’m grateful that he’s going to expose the waste, the fraud, the abuse that you’ve seen in Congress for decades,” the representative said. Troy Nehls, Republic of Texas.

Fans like Nehls will get their wish. Musk is being tapped to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” a private task force appointed by Trump to supposedly cut wasteful spending.

Democrats, for their part, are leery of Musk’s initial flexing, accusing Republicans of being pawns of an oligarch.

“Mr. Musk has set himself up as a policy pioneer here because he has no accountability. And so, God bless him, he’s entitled to his opinion, and it looks like he’s going to exercise that throughout the Trump term.” said Rep. John Larson, D-Conn.

“Democrats and Republicans spent months negotiating a bipartisan deal to fund our government,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., added to X. “The richest man on earth, President Elon Musk, doesn’t like it. Will the Republicans kiss. They shouldn’t be allowed to run our government.”

However, as a wealthy unelected person, he has less protection than other power players in Washington, and as long as the penchant for political knife-fighting persists, he can also have his influence on the levers of power in Washington.

“He’s relatively out of reach (from his critics) because of his wealth,” said the source close to Trump’s transition. “Somebody with the kind of resilience doing this I think we’re going to see profound changes.”