Key Trump ally comes out against massive emergency spending plan: 'This bill shouldn't pass'
Billionaire and key Trump ally Elon Musk came out against House Speaker Mike Johnson's proposed bill to keep the government funded on Wednesday.
Musk has attacked the bill on social media, arguing that the 1,547-page document is full of “pork.” The law is designed to avoid Friday's government shutdown and fund the government in March.
“This bill should not pass,” Musk wrote unequivocally on X.
Congressional Republican leaders have defended their plan to repeal the stopgap bill, arguing that it would allow President-elect Trump to have more influence over spending when the question comes up again in the spring.
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Vivek Ramaswamy, another Trump friend, expressed skepticism about the bill Tuesday night, but did not oppose it outright.
“Right now I am reading the 1,547 page bill to fund the government in mid-March. We expect every US Congressman & Senator to do the same,” Ramaswamy wrote on X.
Trump himself did not participate in the budget battle, but several GOP lawmakers expressed doubts about the massive funding package earlier this week.
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“We talked to the speaker until this weekend, the only conversation was 'How long will this clean CR be?' And all of a sudden we're getting — I heard rumors over the weekend — they're negotiating a health care package that includes PBM stuff,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital before the bill was released Tuesday.
“PBM provisions” refer to provisions in the bill that limit the influence of pharmacy benefit managers.
Johnson gave lawmakers three days to study the bill, and vote on it Friday. He pointed out that a large amount of this bill is caused by natural disasters and other incidents that need to be paid but that are outside of the government's control, rather than spending money on the omnibus of previous years.
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The bill includes $100 billion in disaster relief for Hurricanes Milton and Helene, and $8 billion to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
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The GOP currently holds just a one-seat majority in the House, meaning Johnson is likely to rely on Democratic votes to pass the bill. The legislation must also pass the Senate by a Friday deadline to avoid a shutdown.
Elizabeth Elkind of Fox News contributed to this report.
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