Elon Musk, who plans to take a leading role in cutting spending for the incoming Trump administration, indicated early Wednesday that he opposes a spending bill backed by Speaker Mike Johnson.
The incoming leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency wrote in a post on X at 4:15 a.m. that “this bill should not pass.” If Congress doesn’t clear a spending bill by Friday night, a government shutdown will kick in.
It’s the same position as a swath of conservatives, who have excoriated the funding package for including various new unrelated spending measures, what lawmakers typically refer to as a “Christmas tree” bill.
Johnson said on Fox News on Wednesday that he’d heard many of those complaints directly from Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the other DOGE chief, in a group text chat they share.
“They understand the situation,” Johnson asserted. “They said: ‘It’s not directed at you, Mr. Speaker, but we don’t like the spending.’ And I said: ‘Guess what, fellas? I don’t either.”