The U.S. government is staring down the prospect of a shutdown days before Christmas, thanks to an unlikely alliance of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. What was expected to be the tepid finale to the 118th Congress has turned into pandemonium as Washington bristles at the disruptive power of the president-elect and his celebrity partner in crime even before Trump officially resumes residency in the White House.
Unless there is a last-minute breakthrough, a partial government shutdown will start at midnight Friday. It was sparked by Musk’s derailing of a year-end spending deal and Trump raising the stakes with an unbearable demand for new debt-spending authority. Their actions, together, have generated a political storm that could paralyze the government during the holiday period.
On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson scrambled with a do-or-die Backup Plan B to prevent the shutdown. But his efforts detonated spectacularly. The bill he was pushing sparked a rebellion in the House, with 38 Republicans joining almost all Democrats against him, exposing rifts in the G.O.P. and pushing back against Trump’s hold over it. His proposed bill ignited a revolt in the House, with 38 Republicans joining almost all Democrats to vote against him, exposing fractures within the GOP and resistance to Trump’s influence.
The turmoil represents a stunning end to a tumultuous Congress. Musk, who is likely to serve as the co-chair of an ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency in his new administration, established the tone on Wednesday with a string of incendiary social media posts. Trump then swooped in, reasserting his authority over Congress and exercising his political muscle as if it were a wrecking ball.
Then came Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who seemed to express the mindset of confusion, saying Thursday, “Truly, I don’t know what’s going on,” as Johnson’s plan fell apart. Now Johnson, who had spent weeks trying to keep the government functions running, is in an uncertain position. His leadership is at risk, especially since some in the MAGA hard right seem unfazed by a shutdown, even though it could harm their working-class constituents economically.
By Thursday evening, party leaders had stood impotently by as a prolonged ugliness engulfed the House floor that revealed deep-fractured infighting among Republicans, while an emboldened Democratic caucus sounded a foreboding new warning: The true power behind the madness is not Trump, but rather Musk, who many now see as wielding unprecedented influence in Washington.
“This is not Trump’s Congress anymore—it's Musk’s Washington,” one Democrat quipped, reflecting the profound uncertainty over the incoming administration brought by its larger-than-life figures.
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