Hakeem Jeffries Slams GOP For Bending To The Will Of Billionaire ‘Puppeteers’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) criticized Republicans for tanking a bipartisan government funding agreement, saying the party was bending to the will of wealthy backers and “puppeteers.”

The lawmaker’s remarks were a direct attack on billionaire Elon Musk, whose displeasure with the spending bill — aired on X, the social media site he owns — precipitated holiday season chaos in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump demanded Republicans put forward last-minute changes, including raising or eliminating the debt ceiling.

But the effort bombed Thursday night after many Republicans and almost every Democrat refused to go along with it, raising the stakes of a government shutdown just days before Christmas.

“The Musk-Johnson government shutdown bill has been soundly defeated,” Jeffries, referring to House Speaker Mike Johnson, wrote on Bluesky, a social media site that serves as a counter to X. “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,” he went on. “Unacceptable.”

Republicans, who control the House, are now scrambling for yet another deal with just over a day to go. The saga represents a major threat to Johnson’s grip on his party, which will have a razor-thin majority in the next Congress.

Musk, for his part, tried to lay blame on the second funding measure’s failure at Democrats’ feet, saying a shutdown would “obviously” be the fault of Jeffries and his fellow lawmakers.

The government will run out of funding as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday, which would see hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and will affect millions of Americans preparing for a busy holiday travel season.