Elon Musk, Donald Trump‘s pick to hack away at frivolous government spending, has publicly slammed Republican Speaker Mike Johnson‘s funding plan.
Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tasked by President-elect Donald Trump to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and slash trillions of dollars in federal spending.
The Speaker has been warm toward the DOGE leaders, going as far as holding a press conference with them earlier this month to tout their budget-trimming agenda.
However, in the waning days before Christmas, as lawmakers are itching to return home, Johnson has unveiled a massive, 1,547-page spending bill.
He expects Republicans and Democrats to approve it by Friday, giving them scant time to even read the fine print.
Attached to the package is over $100 billion relief aid to help states reeling from a disastrous hurricanes Milton and Helene. It also provides farmers with assistance, approves cash for submarines and helps with other disasters.
The super-sized bill is a continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding until March, basically kicking the issue down the road three months.
It is the second stop-gap spending bill pushed by Johnson since September.
After the bill’s details were released on Tuesday night, Speaker Johnson, Musk and Vivek spoke about the contents in a group chat.
Then, after discussing the CR with the Speaker, Musk, a close ally of Trump’s, began publicly deriding the Johnson’s plan that is also facing backlash from Republicans.
The 1,547-page CR is longer than most religious texts, like the Bible, and when stacked sheet-by-sheet the bill towers over a normal can of Diet Coke. Elon Musk has been slamming the CR as wasteful ‘pork’
After unveiling a massive spending bill Tuesday night, many Republicans have disapproved of Mike Johnson’s government funding plan
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., from left, walks with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who is carrying his son X as they arrive for a roundtable meeting to discuss President-elect Donald Trump’s planned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024
‘Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?’ Musk posted on X alongside a photo of the printed out spending plan, which pilled up stood taller than a can of Diet Coke.
‘This bill should not pass,’ he said in another tweet.
In a third post, Musk further decried Speaker Johnson’s government funding CR for including pay raises for Congress.
‘How can this be called a ‘continuing resolution’ if it includes a 40 percent pay increase for Congress?’ he questioned.
Included within the bill is a measure to bump up members of Congress’ pay from $174,000 – a level set in 2009 – to $243,300 per year.
In another post Wednesday morning the X owner re-posted a proposal that suggested Congress should be forced to release bill details a week before voting on them. ‘Agreed!’ Musk wrote.
On Fox News Wednesday morning, after some of Musks barbs, Johnson addressed the criticism, noting how he was talking to the co-chairs via text last night about the CR.
‘I was communicating with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek and I are on the text chain together, and I was explaining to them the background of this,’ the speaker began.
Musk has made numerous posts disparaging Johnson’s CR Wednesday morning
Billions of dollars within the CR are meant to help with disaster relief following the damage from Hurricane Helene, shown above
‘They say, ‘This is not directed to you, Mr. Speaker, but we don’t like the spending.’ I said, guess what fellas? I don’t either,’ Johnson said.
The Republican leader recounted how Ramaswamy admitted Johnson was ‘in an impossible position’ and the speaker said he will be forced to rely on Democratic votes to get the CR passed.
‘We gotta get this thing done so we don’t have the shutdown… and we get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending,’ Johnson continued. ‘That’s when the big changes start.’
DOGE co-chair Ramaswamy also posted about the CR following its release Tuesday.
‘Currently reading the 1,547-page bill to fund the government through mid-March. Expecting every U.S. Congressman & Senator to do the same,’ he posted on X.
Many conservative Republicans have expressed their dismay with the final CR, one likening it to a ‘dumpster fire’ while another called it a ‘crap sandwich.’
Republican leadership is currently deciding on a time to bring the CR up for a vote, though when remains unclear.
The unpopular decision by Johnson will surely be top of mind when Republicans vote on who they want their next Speaker to be come January.
Johnson has been thought to be a shoe-in to the role after Trump recently signaled his support of the Republican leader.
But now with Musk’s dissatisfaction hardline conservatives will have more ammo to use against the speaker should they mount an attack on his grip on the gavel next year.