I’ll try to make this short and sweet. I read an article from The Independent this morning and the headline included all you need to know. When asked about the impending government shutdown (as in can it be avoided) Senator Elizabeth Warren had a devasting (to Trump’s ego) three word response: “Ask Elon Musk.” Trump had to have blown a gasket on that. It’s not like others haven’t talked about Musk having ‘bought’ Trump and calling the shots. There’s reporting about tensions between the two. Trumpy isn’t one to share ANYTHING and he’ll by god not let Musk grab the spotlight away from him. Not without one helluva fight. However, Trump wanted a CR deal that could push government funding back a while because he’s got other issues and fights to deal with first.
And now, Trump (and Musk) have LOST the fight. Worse for Trump is that Warren isn’t saying anything lots of others aren’t also saying. However coming from Warren the ‘it’s up to Musk’ comment will carry a particular sting. Warren mounted a viable campaign for the Democratic nomination and she got under Trump’s skin. Enough he singled her out quite a bit. Trump as we know never forgets an insult or the person who visited it on him so Warren of all people saying Musk is calling the shots instead of Trump has him freaking the hell out.
So when it comes to Warren’s comment what exactly is ‘up to Musk?’ Well, it’s Friday morning and checking the news it doesn’t seem like there’s any viable plan that will prevent a government shutdown come midnight. This time tomorrow “Merry Christmas” will be ringing hollow for countless individual Americans and the country overall. The House voted on a deal to avoid this, but what they voted on wasn’t the bi-partisan deal that had been agreed to. What they DID vote on was what Trump wanted and it went down in flames.
What the hell happened? Elon Musk. Trumpy insists on being the center of things but Musk came out strong on twitter/X against any deal. There were more than a few House Republicans with strong objections to the original deal but at the beginning of the week Democrats were prepared to get the funding bill (which the Senate was already on board with) over the finish line. However Musk’s social media platform dwarfs Trump’s Truth Social and the original deal got scrapped. MUSK gave them plenty of political cover with their voters back home.
So Musk and Trump hatched a new ‘Plan B’ that pared things down some. Musk didn’t like the provision Trump insisted on adding about increasing the debt ceiling but by the time it was all coming up for a vote he was pushing it as hard as Trump. No doubt being reminded of the tax cut for him and his businesses, as well as a new set of government contracts priced (OVER priced) like the bad old days of defense contracting was enough for him to give his approval on the debt ceiling. The main thing is that Musk went all-in with Trump to push hard for their ‘pared down’ Plan B CR/funding deal.
How hard? Well, knowing Democrats would sit on the sidelines the GOP needed virtually every Republican to vote yes. They could afford very, very few no votes so Musk went all-in with Trump threatening to primary anyone who didn’t get with the program. This was quite public too so I have to wonder what got said in private phone calls whipping the vote on the bill. Oh, and lest we forget what was voted on was NOT the bill the Senate had approved which meant if passed it would have to go back over there. Since the Senate is still under Democratic control I’m betting Musk and Trump saw a chance to put the blame for a shutdown on Democrats (if they didn’t give them what they wanted) and for once the public might blame Democrats for the damage shutdowns always cause.
No matter. Hard-core House Republicans blew off threats of being primaried and in pretty big numbers voted AGAINST the ‘pared down’ CR. Thirty-Eight Republicans in fact. (Two Democrats crossed over and did vote yes on it) According to the linked article (from Newsweek) prior to the vote Wed. night Trumpy was on Truth Social shooting his wad early. Saying stuff like “SUCCESS in Washington!” He went on to talk about how Speaker Johnson had put together a great package that would keep the govt. open, raise the debt ceiling (for the next tax cut for the rich), provide disaster and farm relief etc. and how vital it was for Democrats to join Republicans in passing it. Alas, as I’ve noted Trump couldn’t even get his own side on board!
Now, with such a slim majority the GOP could only afford to lose a few people. Chip Roy and Tom Massie were no votes no matter what. On the other hand it was a given that two or three Democrats in swing districts would cross over. That still left little margin. But THIRTY EIGHT Republicans giving Trump and Musk ‘double-birds’ with their no votes? That’s an awful lot of Republicans to primary! For all the talk about the new Congress and the Senate not necessarily rubber-stamping whatever Trump wants, it looks to me like he’s got the same problem in the House. That’s a staggering number of people who lest we forget are up for re-election every two years basically telling Trump ‘You think you can primary me out? Go for it dude!’
Getting back to Musk he’s on record saying before this mess the government should just shut down until Trump is sworn in and then the issue of funding can be dealt with. Of course even with the GOP in charge of both chambers on the Hill getting funding legislation, even a CR approved will be no small matter. In any case what fascinates me is the dynamic playing out between Trump and Musk. Musk is even being hyped by some to become Speaker! Trumpy would freak the hell out over that. As I’ve noted he can’t be happy Musk is getting the attention he’s already getting. All the talk about Musk ‘really” being in charge and Trumpy being his paid for figurehead.
I fear this is going to get to a level of ugly that’s unbearable before it finally is over. However Musk seems determined to push, and do so publicly his influence over things. Perhaps someone should remind him of the concept of Hubris. In the end however we are in a situation where Trump has LOST and lost bigly with House Republicans. Despite Moses Mikey holding votes to try and cobble something together today I still say we are headed into a shutdown. Right before Christmas. Ho Ho Ho. No Merry Christmas and forget about a Happy New Year. Or couple of years at least because the fractures in Trump’s armor and the GOP are now exposed for all to see. And if anything will only grow wider.
I guess when Musk funneled millions to buy a presidency, he believes he actually bought the seat for himself. I’d hate to be a fly on the wall in Mar-a-Lardo except to maybe watch the interactions between these two.