Musk ascends as a political force beyond his affluence by tanking distribution deal

In the first major flex of his influence since Donald Trump was elected, Elon Musk brought to a sudden halt a bipartisan distribution proposal by posting constantly on his X megaphone and threatening Republicans with primary challenges.

The social media warnings from the globe’s wealthiest man preceded Trump’s condemnation of a assess negotiated by GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, which effectively killed the stopgap assess that was designed to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government.

Washington was scrambled a day after Musk’s community pressure campaign. Trump on Thursday declined to declare if he had confidence in Johnson, telling NBC information, “We’ll view.” And there was no obvious path to keeping the government open beyond Friday, raising the specter of a government shutdown heading into the holidays. Congressional Democrats mocked their GOP counterparts, with several suggesting Trump had been relegated to vice president.

“Welcome to the Elon Musk presidency,” Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California wrote on X.

What was obvious, though, is Musk’s ascendance as a political force, a level of influence enabled by his great affluence. In addition to owning X, Musk is the CEO of Tesla and Space X.

“There is no question he does wield a lot of influence over Republicans correct now due to his proximity to Trump,” said Chris Pack, former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Senate Leadership startup distribution.

But Pack also said that Musk’s threats pose potential risks for House Republicans, who commence next year with a five-seat majority that will reduce temporarily because of Trump’s nomination of some GOP lawmakers to administration posts.

“This isn’t going to assist pass the agenda if you are going to expense a bunch of Republicans in very razor-thin moderate seats if you’re going to make them misplace in primaries,” Pack said. “All that does is provide the keys to these districts over to the Democrats.”

Musk spent an estimated $250 million during the presidential campaign to back Trump, contributing heavily to America PAC, a super political action committee that deployed canvassers, aired TV ads and reached voters digitally in battleground states. He had signaled after the election he was willing to back GOP primary challenges to Republican members of Congress seeking re-election in 2026 who waver on Trump’s appointments and agenda.

He renewed the threat pointedly Wednesday.

“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending statement deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” he wrote on X. He also called it “one of the worst bills ever written.”

Musk wasn’t alone in fanning GOP rage against the statement, which included several compromise measures to get Democratic back in the Senate in the final weeks before Republicans receive control of that chamber. Biotech business owner and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is Musk’s associate leading the recent Department of Government Efficiency, also posted against the statement, as did Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

Musk played down his role at times, suggesting after some compliment online, “All I can do is bring things to the attention of the people, so they may voice their back if they so choose.” And the president-elect told NBC information that he had spoken to Musk prior to the Tesla CEO’s first posts.

“I told him that if he agrees with me, that he could put out a statement,” Trump said.

Karoline Leavitt, the incoming White House press secretary, pushed back against Democratic critics who suggested Musk was calling the shots.

“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view,” Leavitt said in a statement, referring to the continuing resolution. “President Trump is the chief of the Republican event. packed stop.”

Throughout the day Wednesday, Musk replied to posts on X from Republican House members announcing opposition to the statement with words of thanks, and punctuating their community commitments.

And he took a win lap after Trump came out against the statement: “The voice of the people was heard. This was a excellent day for America.”

He was responding to Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr’s post: “The phone was ringing off the hook today. And you recognize why? Because they were reading tweets…from Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.”

Conservative activists at the annual AmericaFest assembly in Phoenix cheered Musk Thursday and hailed the suggestion he could replace Johnson as speaker. There’s no requirement that the speaker be an elected member of the House of Representatives.

“Should Mike Johnson remain speaker of the House?” conservative media host Jack Posobiec asked his spectators during a live taping of his talk display, prompting a chorus of “Noooooo!!!” from his spectators.

Johnson had been scheduled to attend AmericaFest, but canceled after the distribution deal fell apart.

“Should Elon Musk be speaker of the House?” Posobiec asked his spectators, prompting cheers.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press statement Barrow contributed to this update from Phoenix.