A strange thing happened on the way to a bipartisan agreement to fund US government operations and avoid a partial shutdown this week.
Conservatives in Congress — encouraged by tech multibillionaire Elon Musk — resisted.
Republicans tried to regroup Thursday afternoon, proposing a new, scaled-down government funding package. That vote failed, as 38 Republicans joined most Democrats in voting against it.
All this political drama only gives a sense of the chaos and unpredictability that could emerge under a unified Republican administration in Washington next year.
The man at the center of this week's drama has no official government title or role. What Elon Musk does have, however, are hundreds of billions of dollars, a megaphone on social media, and the ear of not only the President of the United States, but rank-and-file conservatives in Congress.
On Wednesday morning, the tech mogul turned to X, which he bought for $44 billion two years ago, to downplay the compromise Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson reached with Democrats to temporarily fund U.S. government operations through mid- March.
As the number of his posts on the proposed deal reached the triple digits, sometimes amplifying factually inaccurate claims made by conservative commentators, opposition to the legislation in Congress grew.
And by Wednesday night, Donald Trump — perhaps sensing that he had to face a growing conservative rebellion — publicly stated that he, too, opposed the government funding bill.
He said it contained wasteful spending and Democratic priorities, while urging Congress to take the politically sensitive step of raising — or even eliminating — the legal limit on newly issued U.S. debt, which the U.S. will reach sometime next summer.
Support for the temporary spending bill then collapsed, forcing Johnson and his leadership team to scramble to find an alternative way forward. As they did, Musk celebrated, declaring that “the voice of the people has triumphed.”
Perhaps it is more accurate to say that Musk's voice triumphed.
On Thursday afternoon, Republicans unveiled a new proposal that suspends the debt limit for the first two years of Trump's second term, funds the government through March and includes some disaster relief and other measures included in the original funding package.
But Musk's involvement may not sit well with some lawmakers. House Democrats joked about “President Musk,” while even a few Republicans publicly grumbled.
“WHO?” Pennsylvania Republican Glenn Thompson answered the question about Musk. “I don't see him in the room.”
Musk may have been the instigator, but this latest congressional funding crisis reveals what has been — and will likely continue to be — an ongoing challenge for the narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
For two years, House Republicans have struggled to maintain a united front amid a party populated, at least in part, by politicians with an active disdain for the government they help run.
Internal disagreements have delayed the election of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House in January 2022. and led to his removal—the first in American history—the following year. Johnson eventually replaced him, but only after weeks of being on the road without a leader.
Some Republicans hoped that with Trump's election, members of their majority, which will become even smaller when the new Congress is sworn in next month, would be more willing to march in step to support the new president's agenda. And some are.
“I think President Trump has pretty much laid out the plan, so I don't know what the discussions are about,” Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna told reporters after House Republican meetings Thursday afternoon.
What this week has revealed, however, is that the president-elect may not always offer the legislature the clear, consistent direction it needs.
His push to raise the debt limit, for example, surprised many in his own party. And outside influences, such as from Musk or others, could introduce further instability into the process.
If Republicans fail to achieve near-unanimity in the House, they will need to find ways to win over Democrats if they are to achieve any legislative success. And what this week has shown (once again) is that the necessary political compromises can lead to more Republican defections.
Trump's party will be challenged to govern effectively on its own — but it may also be unable to tolerate governing with the help of Democrats.
If there is no political balance in the chamber, it would put Trump's more ambitious legislative priorities at risk before he even takes office.
Republicans may still find a way to avoid a prolonged government shutdown through a temporary budget resolution, although Trump's first round of pressure has resulted in an embarrassing failure to win enough support in his own party.
For Johnson, however, the damage may already be done. His hold over House Republicans was eroded — first by Musk and then by Trump — just weeks before he ran for re-election as House speaker.
Already, one Republican, Thomas Massey of Kentucky, has said he will not support Johnson's re-election. Others, including members of Johnson's own leadership team, were noncommittal. Marjorie Taylor Green, the Georgia congresswoman who unsuccessfully pushed for Johnson's removal in May, suggested that Musk become speaker.
Meanwhile, Trump — the only person who could throw Johnson a lifeline — was equivocal, telling Fox News that Johnson could “easily” remain speaker if he “acts decisively and firmly.”
However, determination may not be enough when every direction for the speaker seems to lead to a dead end.