SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON HAS A MESS on his hands as Congress faces a Friday deadline to pass a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
What started as conservative grumbling about spending levels in the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government into March, has snowballed into a full-fledged revolt by some of President-elect Trump’s closest allies, who are deriding the bill as a pork-laden, omnibus monstrosity and calling on Republicans to vote it down.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump tapped to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are at the tip of the spear.
Musk spent the day lashing out on X, urging citizens to call their representatives and declaring that any member who votes in favor of the bill should be voted out of office.
“"Shutting down" the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill,” Musk posted on X.
Ramaswamy said the spending bill is “like showering cocaine on an addict.”
“This bill should fail,” he said.
Donald Trump Jr. piled on, pointing to a provision he said would hamstring GOP efforts to investigate Democrats.
“The American people didn’t vote for this … this cannot pass," he said.
Some GOP members are angry at having to pick between a shutdown or a vote in favor of a 1,547-page spending bill they despise.
Rep. Eric Burlisen (R-Mo.) called the bill a “dumpster fire,” while Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) called it a “crap sandwich.”
Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass a bill to keep the government open.
There is chatter that Johnson could try to fast-track the bill, doing away with the traditional 72-hour review period to push it through tonight or early Thursday.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) blamed Trump for the chaos, posting on X:
“What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for the CR or shut down government? Absent direction, confusion reigns.”
