BURSTRep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) on Thursday suggested Elon Musk is the one directing the Trump administration, not President-elect Trump, pointing to the tech entrepreneur's leading position in opposing the government stopgap measure.
“Elon Musk has Donald Trump in a vise,” Goldman said on MSNBC on Thursday. “And it is very clear that Elon Musk is now calling the shots.”
Musk on Wednesday made several social media posts criticizing the spending measure deal unveiled by House Republicans this week. He called the more-than-1,500-page measure a big “piece of pork” while calling on GOP lawmakers to oppose it.
Trump later in the day also called for the bill to be dismissed with, suggesting instead that Congress pass a clean CR with a debt hike increase. That proposal was rejected on Thursday night, and Congress is now working on a plan C.
“We need to face the reality: right now, we have President Elon Musk. And Trump? Maybe he’s vice president, I guess,” Goldman said. “Vice presidents don’t do much, so that makes sense. He might be the chief of staff. I don’t know what you call him, but he is not calling the shots.”
Goldman is not the only Democrat saying that Musk is the one calling the shots in the administration. A number of Democrats have made similar arguments, while the White House has said Trump and the GOP are doing the bidding of billionaires.
Whether the argument is true or not, is it the kind of debate that in the past has gotten under Trump's skin.
Trump’s team asserted that the GOP candidate is the one leading the party.
“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR [continuing resolution], Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view. President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop,” said Karoline Leavitt, transition spokesperson for the Trump-Vance team, in a statement previously shared with The Hill.
Trump appointed Musk as the co-leader of his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), an advisory panel focused on cutting spending and the size of the federal government, alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.