'Heads will explode': GOP lawmakers frustrated at being 'hijacked' by Trump and Musk
Lawmakers sitting on what has traditionally been the mega-powerful appropriations committees in both the House and Senate are growing increasingly frustrated after having their power stripped away by the trifecta of Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and White House budget director Russ Vought.
According to a report from Politico, committee members are becoming more and more vocal about their "waning influence" about how and where the money will be spent, with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) admitting "heads will explode" if things don't return to normal soon.
As Politico's Katherine Tully-McManus wrote, "with a looming mandate to codify DOGE cuts as a part of those 12 bills, morale among many members of the Appropriations Committees is at an all-time low, while distrust between the two parties has reached a fever pitch."
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In an interview, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) admitted, "You’re talking to a pretty discouraged appropriator right now," before adding, "We are in a bad place, and it’s a place that I regret. This is our job under the Constitution. It’s not the executive’s. It’s not the president’s. It’s our job.”
According to one former appropriator who wished to remain anonymous, the trio of Trump, Musk and Vought have handcuffed members from doing their jobs and lamented, "The approps members always got on together and protected the power of the purse from all interference. The trifecta changed all that.”
According to the Politico report, "Republican appropriators have now been directed to bake Musk’s DOGE cuts into a new batch of funding bills before the next government shutdown deadline in September — another sign that the appropriations process has been hijacked by the executive branch."
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