Sen. Rand Paul took a jab at Speaker Mike Johnson Thursday when he suggested that SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk should have that job.
The leadership reelection prospects of Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, to the speakership on Jan. 3 plunged after he faced a revolt from Republican lawmakers over the 1,547-page stopgap spending measure, intended to fund the government until March 14, he proposed Tuesday.
Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, who had planned to jam the bill up in the Senate if it passed the House before the government shutdown deadline on midnight Friday, posted on X, “The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress.”
He added, “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).”
Mr. Musk, who will co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency with business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, trashed the spending measure on his X platform on Wednesday and warned that Republicans supporting the enormous bill would face reelection consequences.
“’Shutting down’ the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill,” Mr. Musk posted.
He also wrote, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”
He added, “Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel! They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention.”
Mr. Musk punctuated his X campaign: “No bills should be passed [by] Congress until Jan 20, when Donald Trump takes office. None. Zero.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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