Amid the ongoing backlash over congressional leaders’ controversial spending deal, some Republican lawmakers are voicing support for replacing embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) with Elon Musk.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress ...” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) noted in a Dec. 19 social media post on X.
“Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk ... think about it ... nothing’s impossible. (Not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) agreed, suggesting that House Republicans should hand the gavel over to either the billionaire Musk or entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Down with The Firm!” Lee added in a subsequent post, using his nickname for the Washington establishment.
On the House side, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she would be “open to supporting” a Musk speakership.
“DOGE can only be truly accomplished by reining in Congress to enact real government efficiency,” she wrote on X.
Musk and Ramaswamy are set to head up the new cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to establish.
In recent weeks, Musk, who owns X, has used the platform to voice his opinions on federal programs, policies, and legislation that he opposes—including the massive spending deal.
In addition to funds for disaster relief and economic assistance for farmers, the bill also included a pay bump for members of Congress, funding for biocontainment labs, a commitment to fully fund the reconstruction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, and pharmacy benefit management reforms, among other provisions.
With a flurry of posts on X, Musk led the charge to kill the bill, pressing lawmakers to vote it down.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” he wrote in one post.
The president-elect was also critical of the bill.
“The bill would make it easier to hide the records of the corrupt January 6 committee—which accomplished nothing for the American people and hid security failures that happened that day. This bill would also give Congress a pay increase while many Americans are struggling this Christmas,” Trump said in a joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance.
Those words were the final nail in the coffin.
Funding for the federal government is set to expire at midnight on Dec. 20, triggering a government shutdown. With time running out to pass an extension, Johnson met with Republicans on Dec. 19 to reach an alternative agreement.
According to Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), a new deal has been reached.
“GOP will get it done. Go team,” Luna wrote on X, noting that Trump was “instrumental” in the negotiations.
The details of the new bill have not yet been released.
