BURSTSen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) criticized President-elect Trump for discord regarding the continuing resolution.
“What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for the CR or shut down government? Absent direction, confusion reigns,” Romney wrote in a Wednesday post on X.
House Republicans spent Tuesday debating last minute changes to the stop gap bill with disagreements over disaster relief funding and farmers aid prolonging a finalized text.
However, once published, Elon Musk, set to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, encouraged legislators to vote against the bill.
“This bill should not pass,” Musk wrote Wednesday morning in a statement on X, following a later post that described the document as a “piece of pork.”
Although he didn’t explicitly outline his qualms with the bill, many have cited excessive spending adds as a reason for rejection.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed disdain for the bill, which he said points out Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) weak stance on GOP suggested reductions.
“I had hoped to see @SpeakerJohnson grow a spine, but this bill full of pork shows he is a weak, weak man,” Paul wrote in a Wednesday post on X, citing gains for Democrats.
However, Johnson noted Democrats “razor thin margin” forced the party to lean on Democratic votes for the bill to pass.
Despite tense conversations, Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate, has condemned the lack of bipartisan leadership in the chambers. He urged incoming lawmakers to take a stance by reaching across the aisle more in the 119th Congress.
“Among other things, the scourge of partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize our national debt,” he said in his farewell speech earlier this month.
“Without the burden of the interest on that debt, we would be able to spend three times as much as we do on military procurement,” Romney added.
The elected official has signaled that he will remain vocal throughout his last days in office.