Hillary Clinton says Republicans are taking orders from ‘the world’s richest man’ to shut down government
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke up on Capitol Hill on Thursday about Elon Musk’s influence in the spending drama.
“In case you’re just catching up: Republicans are following the orders of the world’s richest man and will shut down the government during the holidays, stop paying our troops, and stop nutritional benefits for low-income families in time for Christmas.” 2016 Presidential Candidate wrote on X.
Clinton is a former first lady and senator who served as a member of Congress from 2001 to 2009.
Her comments came as House Speaker Mike Johnson issued a new version of a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open beyond a Friday night deadline.
State Rep. Hillary Clinton spoke out Thursday about Elon Musk’s influence on Capitol Hill spending drama, the former secretary said. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Musk strongly opposed the original spending deal Johnson negotiated with Democrats and threatened to support primary challenges to any Republicans who voted for the deal.
The government will enter a partial shutdown at midnight on Saturday if a passable deal cannot be reached to postpone the government financing deadline to March and maintain spending levels at 2024 levels.
‘Absolutely not’: House Democrats explode over Republican spending deal
But House Democrats balked at the latest spending plan. and with $36 trillion in debt and a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2024, some conservatives oppose the CR, which would push the financing deadline to March and keep spending exactly at 2024 levels.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said: “Musk-Johnson’s proposal is not serious and is ridiculous. Extreme Republicans are pushing to shut down our government.”
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said Democratic leadership would push its members to vote “no” on the deal.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., lamented that, with the involvement of DOGE leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the One deal was rejected due to opposition from conservatives.
“Everyone agrees,” he said, “and then it gets blown up by Elon Musk, who has clearly become the fourth branch of government. It’s an intolerable practice.”
“Democrats are going to try to figure out how do we salvage the public good from the wreckage that just got knocked down.”
After the text of the bill was released, chants of “Hell no” could be heard in the room where Democrats were meeting.
Elon Musk threatens to back primary challenge for anyone who votes for CR. (Anna Chanmemaker/Getty Images)
Here’s what to expect during a partial government shutdown
The latest Continuing Resolution (CR) would extend current government funding levels by three months and suspend the debt ceiling for two years, as requested by President-elect Trump.
Previously, the original 1,500-page CR faced opposition from the right due to policy and funding issues.
House members could vote on the new bill as soon as Thursday night.
It’s unclear whether the new deal will pass — Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also led opposition to the original bill, also blasted the new deal.
“More debt. More government. $4 trillion in credit cards with zero spending restrictions and cuts. Absolutely no,” Roy wrote on X.
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