Republican lawmakers want Elon Musk to be Speaker of the House
Within 24 hours of billionaire Elon Musk using his X platform to repeal a congressional funding bill and pushed the federal government to the brink of shutdown, three Republican lawmakers are now calling for his appointment as Speaker of the House.
On Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, was the first to float the idea, in a post on Musk’s own X platform. “The Speaker of the House of Representatives does not necessarily have to be a member of the National Assembly” Paul wrote. “Nothing will break the swamp more than electing Elon Musk.”
Senator Mike Lee from Utah also endorsed Musk for Speaker, although he added that he would also be happy to have Vivek Ramaswamy take on the role. he told right-wing talk show host Benny Johnson“Let them choose one of them, I don’t care who will be their Speaker,” Lee said. “That would revolutionize everything, it would destroy the company.”
Paul’s proposal was quickly accepted by another far-right elected official when Marjorie Taylor Greene, a representative from Georgia, wrote on X“I am ready to support @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be achieved by reigning [sic] in Congress to enact real government effectiveness. The facility needs to be destroyed just like yesterday. This could be the way.”
Greene is referring to Musk’s role in canceling a bipartisan government funding agreement Current House Speaker Mike Johnson has spent months negotiating with Republicans and Democrats. Although President-elect Trump and his team do not oppose the deal, according to PoliticsMusk started a campaign on X on Wednesday to destroy the deal, post about it more than 100 times.
Finally, Trump and vice president-elect JD Vance issued a lengthy statement about X called the deal a “betrayal of our country” and called on Republican lawmakers to reject the deal — which they did.
What happens next is unclear. If a deal is not reached by Friday, federal workers will stop receiving salaries and much of the government will temporarily shut down. But with Democrats say they care little when it comes back to the negotiating table and Johnson has has ruled out raising the debt ceilingwhat Trump is demanding, there is no clear path to a workable bill, let alone one approved by Musk.
