On Wednesday, Republicans in the House and Senate held closed-door meetings with billionaire Trump financier Elon Musk, giving life to President Donald Trump’s recent rant about “unelected bureaucrats” wielding power in Washington, D.C.
Even though Trump said such bureaucrats should be fired and cleared out, Republicans were instead working out legislative plans with Musk and singing his praises.
In the House meeting Texas Rep. Randy Weber read aloud a poem he wrote praising Musk, adding to the cringe of the entire affair.
“Elon works from dawn to dusk, and then it dawns on all of us, he’s figured out what’s crazy wrong. We should have known it all along,” Weber said.
On legislative matters the Republicans reportedly asked Musk—who is a billionaire who has not run for office and is in a position of influence because he donated millions to help Trump win —for permission to legislate. Specifically, they asked him for his blessing on legislation that would congressionally codify the cuts his Department of Government Efficiency group has tried to implement at multiple federal agencies.
Federal courts have repeatedly ruled against Trump/Musk and asserted that DOGE does not have legal authority to hold back money appropriated by Congress nor to wind down agency operations.
Sen. Rand Paul
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who is a booster of cutting the safety net and federal agencies, admitted in the meetings that the court decisions against DOGE are highlighting the lack of congressional authority to make cuts permanent.
CNN reports that Musk shared his personal cell phone number with the gathering of fans and told them he wants even tighter collaboration and is in constant contact with Speaker Mike Johnson.
The multibillionaire also attempted to distance himself from the chaos that DOGE has caused at the agencies, reportedly claiming that the widely derided firings are not the actions of DOGE but instead the work of rogue federal department heads.
This runs contrary to the constant touting of cuts at agencies by Trump and Musk since Trump was sworn in. But it is a likely defensive maneuver to counteract the public outcry against the cuts that has led to revolts at multiple congressional town hall events. Republicans are now trying to hide from the public and are canceling these meetings or holding them virtually.
As part of negotiations over upcoming legislation to fund the government, some Democrats have demanded that language restraining DOGE be included. Without that language, they have said they are unlikely to support a bill. This would then require Republicans to pass legislation on a party-line vote, something they have struggled with in the recent past.
Without a funding bill there would be a government shutdown. Responding to news reports about this possibility, Musk recently wrote “sounds great.” As an extremely wealthy individual, Musk’s daily life would feel little to no impact from a shutdown that would ripple throughout the U.S.
But others, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, are apparently concerned about a shutdown and are less inclined to hold the line on DOGE restraints. Democrats, particularly in the Senate, have enabled many of the Trump administration’s actions—only to flip-flop and later admit they were mistaken.
Helping out Trump’s favorite and increasingly unpopular unelected bureaucrat could end up being another misfire for the minority party.
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