Elon Musk got his first taste of political failure after the Republican spending deal backed by him and President-elect Donald Trump was voted down in the House late Thursday.
Speaker Mike Johnson scrambled to craft the last-minute bill to avoid a government shutdown after Trump and Musk tanked his initial plan as the clock ticks down on Friday’s deadline.
But the new bill backed by the tech billionaire failed spectacularly 174 to 235 with hard-right Republicans joining nearly every Democrat to vote against it in the GOP-controlled House.
Musk, the co-chair of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), fired off a series of posts on X after the bill went down in flames blaming Democrats.
‘A super fair & simple bill was put to a vote and only 2 Democrats in Congress were in favor. Therefore, responsibility for the shutdown rests squarely on the shoulders of @RepJeffries,’ he wrote, tagging the minority leader who was not included on crafting the bill.
In another post he wrote ‘Shame on @RepJeffries for rejecting a fair & simple spending bill that is desperately needed by states suffering from hurricane damage!’
Jeffries came out against the bill ahead of the vote and blasted the world’s richest man and the GOP speaker for the last minute scramble.
‘The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious. It’s laughable,’ he said.
The 11th hour spending deal put forward by Republicans was just 116 pages, unlike the nearly 1,600-page bill that had previously been negotiated before Trump and Musk tanked it.
But the GOP bill also included a provision to suspend the debt ceiling until 2027, essentially forcing Democrats to give up one of their only leverage tools once Trump takes office in January.
Democrats on the floor mocked Republicans for fearing Musk and pulling the original bill.
‘They got scared because President Musk told them, President Musk said don’t do it,’ said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).
It was the latest in a series of blistering takedowns by Democrats who have questioned who is really in charge of the GOP, Trump or his near-constant companion?
‘Imagine. What does he know about what people go through when the government shuts down? Are his employees furloughed? Hell no! Is he furloughed? No!’ DeLauro said as she blasted Republicans pulling the negotiated bill.
After the bill was blocked, Jeffries took to Bluesky social where he wrote ‘the Musk-Johnson government shutdown bill has been soundly defeated.’
‘MAGA extremists in the House GOP are not serious about helping working class Americans. They are simply doing the bidding of their wealthy donors and puppeteers. Unacceptable,’ he added.
Late Wednesday, Trump demanded that bill, which he called a ‘nasty trap’ set by Democrats, be renegotiated.
He also warned House Republicans against supporting the bloated measure including a pay raise for Congress, additional disaster spending and other unrelated spending measures.
‘Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried,’ he wrote on his TruthSocial platform.
As a result of the mounting pressure, Johnson and his leadership team struck a deal on much more trimmed down bill – just 116 pages – one day later.
But 38 House Republicans joined nearly all Democrats to vote against it.
After the vote went down, Vice President-elect JD Vance also placed the blame on Democrats, telling reporters they ‘asked for a shutdown, and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to get.’
Democrats were not onboard with the new Trump-backed deal, and Johnson couldn’t afford to lose many Republican defectors.
GOP Rep. Chip Roy raged against the bill saying that Republicans are ‘profoundly unserious about reducing deficits.’
Since it didn’t pass, the government will be headed into a partial shutdown on Friday at midnight.
Celebrating Johnson’s work crafting the new deal, Trump triumphantly posted on Truth Social: ‘Success in Washington!’
‘Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People,’ his post continued. ‘The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes.’
Trump also applauded language to suspend the debt limit until 2027.
‘A very important piece, vital to the America First Agenda, was added as well – The date of the very unnecessary Debt Ceiling will be pushed out two years, to January 30, 2027,’ Trump wrote.
‘Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People gave us a mandate to accomplish. All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote “yes” for this Bill, tonight!’
After hearing about the slimmer CR Thursday afternoon, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., balked at the bill.
He accused ‘extreme MAGA Republicans’ of ‘driving us to a shutdown.’
Jeffries calling the bill a ‘Musk-Johnson’ deal prompted the tech billionaire to write on X ‘I’m not the author of this proposal’ and credit Trump, Vance and Johnson.
Earlier in the day, Trump had harsher words for Johnson, giving him a clear ultimatum if the speaker wanted to stay in power.
‘Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,’ the president-elect reiterated to Fox News Digital Thursday morning, issuing a clear warning.
‘If the speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,’ he continued.
Johnson’s new CR came after an onslaught of public pressure by Trump ally and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
After the original 1,500+ page bill was posted Tuesday, the DOGE co-chair began ridiculing the legislation on X nonstop to his over 200 million followers.
Billionaire Musk, who is heading up Trump’s DOGE agency with Vivek Ramaswamy, led the charge to slap down the bill he called a ‘piece of pork.’
He went so far as to threaten any Republican who votes for the measure, saying they’ll be fired from Congress next election.
‘Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!’ he wrote on X.
Later Musk wrote the successfully killed the speaker’s bill, something later confirmed by Trump and House GOP leadership: ‘Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed!’
The back and forth saga between Musk and Johnson has since prompted some members of Congress to muse whether the billionaire would be a more effective House speaker.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the Constitution does not require the speaker to be a member of Congress, opening the door for fresh blood.
‘Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothing’s impossible,’ he states, adding there would be ‘joy’ at seeing the ‘collective establishment lose their ever-lovin’ minds.’
Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she is ‘open to supporting’ Paul’s proposal.
‘The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way,’ she wrote on X.
She later sent a poll to her constituents asking if they would be supportive of Musk taking on the top job in Congress.