Some House Republicans privately furious at Musk, Ramaswamy after government shutdown talks implode
Some House Republicans are privately fuming after Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy got involved in congressional talks on government funding, leading the charge to tank a bipartisan deal.
Several GOP lawmakers granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive situation were either frustrated about the pair getting involved or believe they exacerbated long-standing weaknesses within the House Republican Conference.
"Musk and Vivek should not have jumped in at the 11th hour and should have handled it directly with the speaker. Folks on the same side shouldn’t act like these two," one House Republican said. "They’re more about the clicks and bright lights than getting the job done. I’ll have nothing to do with them after watching them publicly trash the speaker."
A second GOP lawmaker said, "If Elon and Vivek are freelancing and shooting off the hip without coordination with [President-elect Trump], they are getting dangerously close to undermining the actual 47th President of the United States."
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A third lawmaker accused Ramaswamy of distorting facts.
"He didn't read the entire [continuing resolution] and the vast majority of what he was talking about is misinformation," they said.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was gearing up to hold a vote on a bipartisan, 1,547-page deal to extend current government funding levels through March 14 – known as a continuing resolution (CR).
The goal was to give congressional negotiators more time to cobble together an agreement on how to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2025, while also kicking the fight into a term where Republicans control the House, Senate and White House.
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But GOP hardliners were furious about what they saw as unrelated measures and policy riders being added to the bill at the last minute.
In addition to averting a partial government shutdown through March 14, the bill also includes provisions on health care and ethanol fuel, plus more than $100 billion in disaster aid funding, measures to fund the rebuilding of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and the first pay raise for lawmakers since 2009.
Musk and Ramaswamy soon joined the opposition, with Musk even threatening to back primary challengers to Republicans who supported the CR.
Less than 24 hours after the legislation was released, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters the bill was dead.
House GOP leaders have been working toward a plan B, but it's unclear they'll get much, if any, Democratic support.
A fourth House Republican who spoke with Fox News Digital said of Musk's involvement, "I think he influenced weak members who didn't have direction until he tweeted."
"He's just highlighting bad governance and indirectly a weak legislative branch," they said.
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Trump, meanwhile, threatened to primary Republicans who supported a "clean" CR without an increase of the debt limit – which expires January 2025.
The issue threw a wrench into negotiations on Wednesday night, given the months-long and politically brutal talks that normally accompany a debt limit increase or suspension.
One Republican bristled at his threat: "Trump threatening to ‘primary’ us also reduces his standing with many of us. I don’t want anything to do with him."