Romney: 'Confusion reigns' on CR as Trump's direction 'absent'

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) criticized President-elect Trump for discord regarding the continuing resolution.

“What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for the CR or shut down government? Absent direction, confusion reigns,” Romney wrote in a Wednesday post on the social platform X.

House Republicans spent Tuesday debating last-minute changes to the stopgap bill with disagreements over disaster relief funding and aid for farmers prolonging a finalized text.

However, once published, Elon Musk, set to co-lead the "Department of Government Efficiency," encouraged legislators to vote against the bill.

“This bill should not pass,” Musk wrote Wednesday morning in a statement on X, with an additional post describing the document as a “piece of pork.”

Although he didn’t explicitly outline his qualms with the bill, many have cited excessive spending adds as a reason for rejection.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed disdain for the bill, which he said displays Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) weak stance on GOP-suggested reductions.

“I had hoped to see @SpeakerJohnson grow a spine, but this bill full of pork shows he is a weak, weak man,” Paul wrote in a Wednesday post on X, citing gains for Democrats.

However, Johnson noted Republicans' “razor-thin margin” forced the party to lean on Democratic votes for the bill to pass.

Despite tense conversations, Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate, has condemned the lack of bipartisan leadership in the chambers. He urged incoming lawmakers to reach across the aisle more in the 119th Congress.

“Among other things, the scourge of partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize our national debt,” he said in his farewell speech earlier this month.

“Without the burden of the interest on that debt, we would be able to spend three times as much as we do on military procurement,” Romney added.

The elected official has signaled that he will remain vocal throughout his last days in office.

Topics

Live updates: Trump rejects CR as Johnson considers backup spending plan; NDAA clears Senate

President-elect Trump rejected the bipartisan spending deal that was drawing flak from an array of Republicans, with a government shutdown deadline of Friday. The deal to keep the government funded ...
The Hill - 47m
Trump, Vance call for clean CR, debt ceiling hike, urge GOP to sink Johnson compromise

President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance on Wednesday called for Republicans to approve a clean stopgap funding bill paired with a hike to the debt ceiling, saying the previous ...
The Hill - 53m
Trump, Vance call for streamlined CR and debt ceiling debate

Politico - 1h
Trump Jr. knocks CR over provision on subpoenas for House data

Donald Trump Jr. knocked the continuing resolution (CR) on Wednesday over a provision concerning subpoenas for House data, piling on pushback from President-elect Trump’s allies to the stopgap ...
The Hill - 3h
Ivey: Trump is moving FBI in 'very political direction'

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said he thinks President-elect Trump is moving the FBI in a “very political direction.” Ivey, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, joined NewsNation’s “The Hill ...
The Hill - 3d
Romney: 'You can’t complain' if Trump does what he said he would do

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) argued that the American public “can’t complain” if President-elect Trump does what he said he would do during the campaign. “Donald Trump won. He won overwhelmingly. He ...
The Hill - 3d
Mitt Romney's Senate exit may create a vacuum of vocal, conservative Trump critics

Sen. Mitt Romney has given his final remarks after seeing the Republican Party for which he was once the standard bearer drastically transform under Donald Trump
ABC News - 5d
Trump Offers Confusing Clues on Syria

The president-elect faces hard choices about the country’s post-Assad future. His vows not to get involved might be hard to keep.
The New York Times - Dec. 11
International students confused, anxious about their futures under second Trump term

International students are holding their breath as President-elect Trump gears up to return to the White House. Multiple schools have put out guidance on when foreign-born students should and ...
The Hill - Dec. 5