Musk Is ‘President-Elect’ After He Helped Tank Spending Plan: David Axelrod

What’s New

Elon Musk’s influence over President-elect Donald Trump has made him the true “president-elect,” according to David Axelrod, ex-adviser to former President Barack Obama.

“So will President-elect Musk join the budget negotiations now?” Axelrod wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Axelrod’s post came after Trump announced his opposition to a continuing resolution backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson to avoid a government shutdown. Just before Trump’s announcement, Musk was busy rallying Republicans to kill the bill on X.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump transition team via email on Wednesday night.

Why It Matters

Congress has a Friday deadline to avoid a government shutdown by passing a temporarily funding bill. The Johnson-backed plan had looked likely to pass before Musk and later Trump voiced their opposition.

Johnson quickly killed the bill following Trump’s announcement, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise confirming that there was “no new agreement” to avoid a shutdown, according to CBS News.

Before Trump announcing his opposition to the bill, which initially came in the form of a joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance, Musk’s growing influence over the Republican Party appeared to be on display as a number of GOP lawmakers quickly came out against the legislation.

What To Know

Musk railed against the continuing resolution in a flurry of X posts earlier on Wednesday, calling it “one of the worst bills ever written” while also seemingly arguing against any possibility of avoiding a shutdown by demanding that “no bills should be passed [by] Congress” until Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

In their joint statement released hours later, Trump and Vance argued that the temporary funding bill included “sweetheart provisions for government censors and for [Trump critic and former Republican Congresswoman] Liz Cheney.”

“Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH,” they continued. “If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF.”

Trump continued to speak out against temporarily funding the government on Truth Social, suggesting that Republicans who might favor avoiding a shutdown by backing a “clean” version of the continuing resolution should be “primaried.”

“If Republicans try to pass a clean Continuing Resolution without all of the Democrat ‘bells and whistles’ that will be so destructive to our Country, all it will do, after January 20th, is bring the mess of the Debt Limit into the Trump Administration, rather than allowing it to take place in the Biden Administration,” Trump wrote.

“Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried,” he added. “Everything should be done, and fully negotiated, prior to my taking Office on January 20th, 2025.”

What People Are Saying

Trump 2024 campaign adviser Bryan Lanza reacted to Axelrod calling Musk the “president-elect,” during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “That’s a cute statement, probably gets a couple of retweets, but we’ve seen this movie long enough to know that there’s only one executive producer for this show and it’s Donald Trump. Elon is an actor. And what do executive producers do? They fire actors and they hire actors. That’s the way the process is going to play.”

Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle, on X: “Seems like the real leader of the GOP isn’t @realDonaldTrump … The leader of the GOP is Elon Musk. He’s now calling the shots.”

Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost, in response to Musk urging Republicans to “vote out” members of Congress who backed the funding bill on X: “An unelected billionaire was crowned co-President by the Republican Party. They’ve given him the influence to make a damn post that throws a spending bill into limbo cause House Republicans are scared of him. No greater example of oligarchy. Where the ultra-wealthy run the show.”

What Happens Next

If Congress fails to pass a funding bill by Friday, the government will shut down. While certain essential government functions would continue, federal employees would be put on unpaid furlough and the shutdown could affect other Americans by impacting the Social Security Administration and federal food assistance programs like SNAP.

The White House issued a statement on the increasing possibility of a shutdown on Wednesday night, accusing Republicans of “playing politics with this bipartisan agreement” in a way that “will hurt hardworking Americans and create instability across the country.”

“Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones and endanger the basic services Americans from veterans to Social Security recipients rely on,” the statement continues. “A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word.”