Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out Thursday about Elon Musk’s influence on Capitol Hill’s spending debate.
“If you’re just catching up: the Republican Party, taking orders from the world’s richest man, is on course to shut down the government over the holidays, stopping paychecks for our troops and nutrition benefits for low-income families just in time for Christmas,” the 2016 presidential nominee wrote on X.
Clinton, the former first lady and senator, served in Congress from 2001 to 2009.
Her remarks came as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., unveiled a new version of a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government open beyond a Friday night’s deadline.
Musk expressed strong opposition to the original spending deal Johnson negotiated with Democrats, threatening to back a primary challenge against any Republican who voted for it.
Without a viable agreement to push the government funding deadline to March and maintain spending at 2024 levels, the government will go into partial shutdown at midnight Saturday.
However, House Democrats are opposing the most recent iteration of a budget proposal. And, with $36 trillion in debt and a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2024, some conservatives oppose a CR that pushes the funding deadline to March and completely freezes spending at 2024 levels.
“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious; it is laughable. “Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York.
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., indicated that Democratic leadership would whip their members to vote “no” on the agreement.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., lamented that the previous deal had failed due to conservative opposition, with input from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Everybody agreed,” he said, “but then it was blown up by Elon Musk, who appears to have become the fourth branch of government.” And that is an intolerable way to proceed.
“Democrats are going to try to figure out how we can salvage the public good as the wreckage that’s just been pushed.”
“Hell no” chants could be heard inside the room where Democrats were meeting after the bill’s text was released.
The latest continuing resolution would extend current government funding levels for three months and also suspend the debt limit for two years, something President-elect Trump has demanded.
It comes after the original 1,500-page CR drew opposition from the right due to policy and funding riders.
House lawmakers could vote on the new legislation as early as Thursday evening.
It’s unclear whether the new deal will pass. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who led the opposition to the original bill, also criticized the new agreement.
“More debt.” More government. Increasing the credit card by $4 trillion with no spending restraints or cuts. Roy wrote “HARD NO” on X.