By Hadas Gold, CNN
New York (CNN) — In a flurry of posts Wednesday on his social media platform X, Elon Musk derided a Republican-backed government spending bill that if not passed by Friday night would lead to a government shut down.
“This bill should not pass,” Musk posted Wednesday morning, responding to a post by Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leader of President-elect Donald Trump’s advisory group Department of Government Efficiency.
“Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?” Musk posted alongside a photo of a printed copy of the bill, known as a continuing resolution.
In more than two dozen posts, Musk assailed the bill on various points, calling it “criminal” for including funding for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, an agency tasked with fighting foreign propaganda and misinformation, which Musk called a “censorship operation.”
The public battle sets up an early test of Musk and Ramaswamy’s political might as they look to slash government spending, including at least $2 trillion in federal programs, a figure experts have called unrealistic.
Musk, the world’s richest person, also derided a pay increase for members of Congress in the bill, pinning the post to the top of his X profile. Musk also appeared to issue an electoral threat to members of Congress who vote for the bill, writing “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” He also urged his followers to call their representatives to “stop the steal of your tax dollars.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has defended the bill, calling it a necessary stopgap until the party takes control of Congress next year. Speaking on Fox News Wednesday morning, Johnson said he was texting with Musk and Ramaswamy to explain the background on the bill.
“Remember guys, we still have just a razor thin margin of Republicans, so any bill has to have Democrat votes. They understand the situation. They said, ‘this is not directed to you Mr. Speaker but we don’t like the spending.’ I said, ‘guess what fellas, I don’t either,’” Johnson said.
Several Republican members of Congress have also voiced opposition to the bill, with Musk amplifying many of their comments on his social platform.
South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman said that any member that supports the DOGE efforts – led by Musk and Ramaswamy – should be opposed to the stopgap bill.
“Any Member who claims to support DOGE should not support this ‘CR of Inefficiency’ that does not have offsets!! Don’t get weak in the knees before we even get started!,” Norman posted.
In order to pass the spending measure, Johnson will need roughly 90 members of his own conference to support it.
CNN’s Haley Talbot contributed.
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