Senate Democrats labeled billionaires Elon Musk was called ‘co-president’ and ‘shadow speaker’, among other things, when they responded on Wednesday to the implosion of the original emergency measure, after he and ultimately the newly elected President Trump spoke out against it.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Musk “seems to be the man in charge of the country now,” in response to his apparent ability to influence the bill’s rapid failure despite it being agreed upon by bipartisan leaders in Congress.
If a measure to fund the government is not passed by Congress and signed by President Biden at midnight Saturday morning, a partial government shutdown will go into effect.
From Thursday the US national debt was at $36,167,604,149,955.61 and continues to rise rapidly.
SENATE REPUBLICANS TRY TO RAPIDLY ACCELERATE MILITARY EMERGENCY PAYMENTS AS THEY FACE THE LOCKOUT
Elon Musk, left, was credited with removing the first version of the spending bill. (Brandon Bell)
After a 1,547-page short-term spending bill was published this week. Musk quickly moved to blast X, pointing out several seemingly irrelevant provisions, as well as their cost and duration.
He was soon joined by other critics, and Trump and newly elected Vice President J.D. Vance released their own statement opposing the bill.
This led to significant criticism from Democrats who were dissatisfied with Musk’s apparent ability to influence Trump and the US Republicans in Congress.
TOP SENATE DEMS POUR COLD WATER ON LATEST GOP SPENDING PLANS: ‘READY TO STAY’ THROUGH CHRISTMAS
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Musk “now appears to be the man in charge of the country.” (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“He’s the one who seems to be taking the lead,” Warren told reporters.
“Elon Musk is apparently the one in charge of the Republican Party and blew up that deal. So I don’t know how Republicans are going to recover from that,” she said.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., suggested Musk is “already the shadow speaker of the House of Representatives,” in a dig at House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
TIM SCOTT’S SENATE CAMPAIGN ARMS STAFF REVEALED FOR CRUCIAL 2026 SWING STATE RACES
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., called Musk the “shadow speaker.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“I think he wasn’t elected and he did a lot of damage,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.
He claimed that Republicans in Congress were “busy listening to Co-President Musk and Co-President Trump.”
“I’m listening to the people of Georgia, especially the farmers who are struggling to get disaster relief. And we need to make sure we get that across the finish line,” Warnock said.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., reiterated that Musk is not an elected official. “He doesn’t have an official government job,” he said.
‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ CAUCUS STARTED BY SEN MARSHALL AFTER RFK JR MEETING
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., pointed out that Musk was not elected. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“We had a deal with the Republicans in the House of Representatives and now, thanks to him, the president-elect is about to have people lose their jobs and not get paid during the holidays,” Kelly said of a possible partial shutdown if a bill passes is adopted. has not expired within the set period of midnight on Saturday morning.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Despite the claims of their Democratic colleagues, Republicans pushed back on the idea that Trump was influenced by Musk. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., noted that there are “a lot of people around President Trump,” adding that he doesn’t think Musk has control over what the president-elect does.
Musk was tapped by Trump, along with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead what is being called ‘The Republican Party’ Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)a proposed advisory board charged with eliminating government waste.
