Musk pressure campaign on CR highlights his growing influence

Elon Musk’s aggressive push against a stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown received mixed reactions from House Republicans, even as it seemingly ended in success with President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance announcing their own opposition to the measure.

Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leaders of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), fired off a series of posts online Wednesday railing against the more than 1,500-page stopgap spending deal released just days ahead of the Dec. 20 shutdown deadline.  

The tech entrepreneurs argued the deal goes against the goals of their DOGE panel, which is focused on reducing government spending and bureaucracy.  

Amid their barrage of opposition came a flurry of House Republicans echoing their concerns over the measure, and ultimately Trump and Vance came out against the continuing resolution (CR) by Wednesday afternoon. Trump and Vance called for the House to move a "clean" CR paired with a measure to raise the debt ceiling.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is now weighing plan B options amid the pressure campaign and seems likely to move toward the president-elect's plan. 

One GOP lawmaker described Musk and Ramaswamy as “influential voices” on Capitol Hill when asked about their sway over a seemingly divided Republican conference.  

“They’re poised to be very involved in delivering on Donald Trump’s agenda and we want to help accomplish that, and so we’re going to be working very closely together and we value their input on bills that are happening right now and the ones that are to come,” said the lawmaker, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.  

“I think a lot of members are concerned about the extraneous provisions that are on this bill and their [Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s] voice is adding to that concern,” the lawmaker added.  

Urging members not to vote for the CR, Musk described the bill as a big “piece of pork.”  

He escalated his rhetoric by the afternoon, calling for any lawmaker who supports the bill to be voted out of office and suggesting a moratorium on all legislation until Trump takes office on Jan. 20.  

Ramaswamy, in a lengthy post on the social platform X, compared the bill to “showering cocaine on an addict” and lamented Congress's effort to rush a vote so close to the holiday season. 

Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) reposted Ramaswamy’s remarks, calling it a “great outline on several of the reasons” he plans to vote against the CR. 

When asked whether he had spoken to Musk about the measure, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told The Hill, “I don’t need to. I read his tweets.”  

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), the incoming deputy budget director at the Office of Management and Budget, embraced Musk’s comments and hinted outside-government figures like Musk are here to stay.  

“In five years in Congress, I’ve been awaiting a fundamental change in the dynamic. It has arrived,” Bishop wrote on X. 

Other GOP members, including Reps. Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Keith Self (Texas), reposted Musk on X, with Self writing, “We won. @HouseGOP should start acting like it.”  

The debate over the CR is the latest test of how much influence Musk and Ramaswamy have on Capitol Hill as the two increasingly weigh in on congressional issues.  

Last week, Musk issued a last-minute voice of support for a major kids online safety bill. Despite confidence from senators that Musk’s comments would help the bill through the lower chamber, the Kids Online Safety Act ultimately was not brought to the House floor or included in the CR amid free speech concerns.  

Musk and Ramaswamy visited Capitol Hill earlier this month to discuss DOGE’s priorities and received a generally warm welcome from many Republicans who have consistently called for lower government spending and bureaucracy.  

Still, some GOP members are not convinced Musk and Ramaswamy have the power right now to change their colleagues’ minds.  

Others insisted they were not swayed by the Trump allies’ push but believe their colleagues could use it as justification for any "no" vote.  

“Anybody who would [be] influenced would probably be people that would always vote no,” House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) told The Hill. “It’d be a great excuse to vote no on the CR.”  

“I find that people that tweet a lot are trying to be relevant and find relevance,” he added. 

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) called Musk’s remarks “premature,” quipping he “should’ve gotten the facts.”  

Several Democrats, as expected, also resisted Musk and Ramaswamy’s involvement.  

“And just like that, Republican Unelected Co-President Elon Musk has killed the bill to keep the government from shutting down on Friday. All he had to do was make a few social media posts,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) wrote on X.  

“They may [have influence here] but they have no control of this process,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “This is a congressional process. ... This is a process that is specific to the Congress and not to two outside consultants who are billionaires.”  

The Hill’s Emily Brooks contributed.