The tumultuous collapse of the continuing resolution spending bill has put House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) leadership under intense scrutiny, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) suggesting Elon Musk, President-elect Trump’s pick to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as a potential replacement.
Paul took to Musk’s platform, X, on Thursday morning to float the idea of the tech billionaire assuming the role of House speaker, pointing out that the position does not require the speaker to be a sitting member of Congress.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress… Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk… think about it… nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds),” wrote Paul.
Musk, a vocal critic of government waste, has actively engaged in the spending bill debate, spearheading a conservative revolt against the latest proposal over its excessive spending provisions. He has also called for lawmakers who supported the bill to be voted out of office.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote on X.
The once-massive 1,500-plus page spending bill was replaced by a much slimmer version on Thursday, but it, too, went down in defeat when the required two-thirds House majority needed to change a rule in order to approve the measure without it going through committee failed to support it.
It’s unclear if Paul was serious in his suggestion or if the post was made sarcastically, but Democratic political strategist Jimmy Williams rejected the idea out of hand.
“Senators should stick to Senating and House Members should stick to their Chamber,” Williams wrote on X. “No House Member gives a damn what a Senator thinks about who should be Speaker.”
However, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., voiced her support.
“I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House,” Greene wrote on X, replying to Paul. “DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way.”
On Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) waded into the situation with the House Speaker, railing about the mega-spending bill that would have hampered Trump beginning with his first day in office, adding that spending would have to be revisited again by March.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s a horrible plan. I can’t believe that Republican leadership ever cooked it up,” Hawley told Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“Clearly, they didn’t talk to Trump about it, and I tell you what, we need to have a serious look at who’s leading this Congress because if this is the best they could do, I mean, it’s just it’s total incompetence, this is a disaster,” he added.
“Under this bill, they’d shut the government down again, have to do this all over again, have to raise the debt ceiling again later, the same year,” he said. “This bill right here would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit, and the worst part is, it is all for Dem priorities.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance met with Johnson and other Republicans Thursday night, hours after the spending deal failed in the House of Representatives.
Vance was in Johnson’s office along with a handful of Republican lawmakers to discuss government funding and Friday’s looming shutdown deadline. It’s unclear as of Friday morning what Republicans will do or if a shutdown is inevitable.
When Vance was walking down the hallway, a reporter asked, “Mr. Vance, will you accept any deal that does not include a debt limit increase?”
Vance shot back, “Look, I’ll say one thing. The Democrats just voted to shut down the government, even though we had a clean CR, because they didn’t want to give the president negotiating leverage during his first term — during the first year of his new term. And number two, because they would rather shut down the government and fight for global censorship bullsh*t. They’ve asked for a shutdown and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to [do].”
