Republicans are calling for Elon Musk to be the new speaker of the House amid contentious negotiations over a spending deal to avoid a government shutdown.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress . . . Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk,” Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky wrote on X on Thursday. “Think about it . . . nothing’s impossible (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia also piped in on X: “DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way.”
If Musk is chosen to replace current Speaker Mike Johnson, it would represent a futher accumulation of power and influence over the direction of the Republican agenda after the tech billionaire donated $277 million to elect Donald Trump and allies, and was chosen to lead the president-elect’s Department of Government Efficiency iniative (DOGE).
Both Trump and Musk responded on Thursday to calls for the Tesla billionaire to become speaker.
“We’re very happy with Mike. [Elon] is too busy sending rockets to the moon,” Trump told ABC News, adding: “I think Mike is doing a good job. If Mike proves to be as tough as he is, he has a great chance.”
When Musk was asked if he wanted to be speaker, he told the broadcaster with a laugh: “Should I be?”
Democrats, meanwhile, have criticized Republicans for their eagerness to hand power over to Musk, arguing it’s undemocratic for an unelected billionaire who bought his way into the White House to have so influence, and creates confusion.
“So who is our leader Hakeem Jeffries supposed to negotiate with? Is it Mike Johnson?” Rep. Jamie Raskin asked reporters on Thursday. “Is he the speaker of the House? Or is it Donald Trump? Or is it Elon Musk? Or is it somebody else?”
Is Musk “going to own the United States before it’s all over?” Ohio congresswoman Marcy Kaptur wondered to the The Independent.
“He has a lot of personal interests here, and he’s not elected to anything,” she added. “Some people are calling him the president and President (elect) Trump the vice president. I have to do some homework on who this man really is.”
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders accused Republicans of annointing a newly unelected “President Elon Musk” to steer the direction of the agenda.
Some political observers believe Musk has a real shot at the position, or at least influencing whoever the final winner will be.
“Of course, they have to” have influence, Rep. Tim Burchett told The Independent of Musk and DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy’s sway over the Speaker fight. “I mean, they’re prominent people, and they have very big checkbooks.”
The online prediction market Polymarket showed a surge in people believing Musk will become speaker.
The House will vote on a speaker for the new Congress in January, and Johnson’s position could be imperilled thanks to contentious negotations over funding the government.
After Johnson announced a bipartisan deal to fund the government through March and prevent a shutdown over the holidays, Musk rallied Republicans to oppose the effort and threatened those who supported it with funded primary challenges.
Today, Trump said Republicans had reached a new short-term funding bill, though Democrats blasted the proposal, which would strip funding for priorities ranging from funding sickle cell treatments to cancer screening.
“It’s not serious, it’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are steering us towards a government shutdown,” Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters.
Eric Garcia contributed reporting to this story.
