‘No choice’: DOGE leader calls out House conservatives over 1,500-plus page ‘pork fest’
Co-leaders of the newly created Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) have begun opposing a stopgap spending bill that has drawn the ire of conservatives in Congress.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Space
“So, there’s no choice but to do this. I wish there was another way, but there isn’t.”
Former Republican presidential candidate and DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy has also been an outspoken critic of the legislation, suggesting in an X post on Wednesday that Republicans should propose a simple one-page resolution.
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Elon Musk, co-chairman of the newly announced Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), arrives at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on December 5, 2024; Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management, on Thursday, December 5, 2024 Arrive at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to meet with lawmakers. (Left: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Right: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Yes, it is possible to craft a simple 1 page ongoing resolution instead of a 1,500+ page comprehensive pork fest,” Ramaswamy wrote. “Here it is. :”
Ramaswamy continued, “This is what a clean CR would look like. I still don’t like it because it allows historical excess spending to continue, but at the very least, we shouldn’t be piling more waste on top of it.”
Musk posted a video of Ramaswamy denouncing the bill, urging Americans to call their representatives to “stop stealing your tax dollars,” and he spent part of the afternoon retweeting elected Republicans expressing their opposition to the bill comments.
“Thank you!” Musk said in response to Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who said she would not vote for the Kramnibus Act because “dozens of dollars were provided to Ukraine.” Billions of dollars, mask and vaccine mandates, deep state immunity.”
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Louisiana House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol after the final vote of the week, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“I will still fight for a stand-alone disaster relief bill,” Luna wrote.
Musk previously wrote in an article on X, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill should be voted out of office within two years!” Musk wrote on X.
The text of the 1,547-page CR was released late Tuesday after last-minute negotiations among congressional leaders delayed the release of the 1,547-page CR text originally planned for Sunday. Since then, there has been fierce opposition from conservatives and House Republican hardliners, many of whom are frustrated by the irrelevant policy strings attached to the legislation rather than a “clean” extension of government funding.
On October 26, 2024, SpaceX and Tesla founder Musk delivered a speech at the American PAC Town Hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Samuel Colum/Getty Images)
The final package would extend existing government programs and services at current operating levels for a few more months until March 14, 2025.
The stopgap measure is needed because Congress has failed to pass annual appropriations bills to fund all of the federal government’s various agencies, from the Pentagon and national security agencies to health, welfare, transportation and other routine domestic services. When the fiscal year ends on September 30, Congress simply addressed the issue by passing a temporary appropriations bill that expires on Friday.
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pegram reported Wednesday afternoon that “there is now talk of eliminating CR and trying to craft a ‘clean’ bill. But it’s unclear if that also means no disaster aid.”
Stopping the 1,500-page spending plan and forcing a vote on a clean bill would mark a major victory for DOGE and its supporters, who have been outspoken in pushing for changes in how government spending bills are handled.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy’s press office posted on
On Wednesday, Pegram posted on X that the bill “has strong Republican support.”
“As for Elon Musk stepping in and telling lawmakers that all of them should vote out within two years, a member of House Republican leadership told Fox that Musk “isn’t helpful. People have more important things to do.” ’” Pegram wrote.
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 28: U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) attends a press conference on the debt limit and the Freedom Caucus’ spending reduction plans at the U.S. Capitol on March 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. Conservative Republican groups have proposed deep cuts in entitlement spending, including repealing large parts of the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden. ((Photo by Kevin Dickey/Getty Images))
According to Fox News Digital, Johnson has struggled to reach an agreement with a slim majority in the House of Representatives, leading to suggestions for potential replacements for him in the next Congress.
Fox News anchor Lawrence Jones reported Wednesday afternoon that President-elect Trump is “totally opposed” to CR, even as he “acknowledges” Johnson’s precarious situation.
In an appearance on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, Johnson said that while government debt and deficits are a concern, Republicans must approve “short-term stopgap financing measures” while Democrats still control the White House and Senate.
“We have made it our core focus, and when we start the new Congress in January, when Republicans are in power and DOGE (Department of Government Effectiveness) is working on all six cylinders, we will be able to scale up to support the government. The scale and scope,” he said.
Johnson also said the move would ensure Republicans control spending in 2025, calling it an “impossible position.”
“This is how sausage is made,” he added.
The House Speaker also revealed that he has been communicating via text messages with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will be at the helm of DOGE.
Elon Musk is among Trump allies pushing House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, to hold a House vote on the Children’s Online Safety Act (Getty Images)
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“Remember, folks, our Republicans are still weak. So any bill has to be supported by Democrats. They understand the situation,” Johnson said of the text exchange.
Despite strong opposition within the party, the country will face a government shutdown on Friday night if Republicans cannot secure the necessary votes or garner enough Democratic support to push the bill through.
“What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for CR or shut down the government? Without direction, chaos will ensue,” said the retiring senator. Mitt Romneya Utah Republican, in a sly post on X.
“If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, that’s their bluff,” Trump said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon.
Musk addressed the possibility of a shutdown on
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Liz Elkind, Nicholas Lanum and The Associated Press contributed to this report
