Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) fired back at Elon Musk after the tech billionaire called for the ousting of lawmakers who support the new funding deal to prevent a government shutdown.
“Democrats and Republicans spent months negotiating a bipartisan agreement to fund our government. The richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk, doesn’t like it. Will Republicans kiss the ring?” Sanders posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Billionaires should not have the power to control our government,” Sanders added, blasting Musk’s attempts to sway lawmakers.
Musk’s comments came after he urged lawmakers to vote against the new legislation and even suggested that any representative who supports it should be voted out of office in the next election.
“Any House or Senate member who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote on X on Wednesday.
He followed up with another post urging people to contact their elected officials. “They’re trying to pass this today while no one’s paying attention!” he warned.
Capitol Hill is racing against the clock to pass a stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to avoid a government shutdown by Friday.
The bipartisan deal unveiled on Tuesday would extend government funding until March 14, giving Republicans in both chambers more time to work out future funding issues with President Trump.
Musk, who is set to co-lead Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), came out against the bill early Wednesday, saying it “should not pass.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, the other co-leader of DOGE, echoed Musk’s criticism, urging lawmakers to vote against the deal. He blasted it as “packed with excessive spending, special interest handouts, and wasteful pork-barrel politics.”
Ramaswamy went further, likening the bill to a short-term fix with long-term damage. “Debt-fueled spending sprees might feel good today, but it’s like giving a drug addict more drugs—it’s not compassion, it’s cruelty,” he said.
Meanwhile, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance weighed in, calling for Republicans to approve a clean stopgap funding bill along with a debt ceiling increase. They argued that the current government-funding measure, negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), should be scrapped.
Trump went further, warning any Republican who backs the continuing resolution without a debt limit increase could face a primary challenge.
