House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., revealed Friday, according to Newsweek, that he jokingly asked billionaire Elon Musk if he wanted to take on the role of Speaker as Congress scrambled to avert a government shutdown. Johnson's comments came shortly after the House passed a stopgap spending bill that the Senate later approved, extending funding negotiations to March.
"Elon Musk and I talked about an hour ago," Johnson told reporters. "We talked about the extraordinary challenges of this job. I said, 'Hey, you wanna be Speaker of the House? I don't know.' He said this may be the hardest job in the world. I think it is."
The remark came during a week of heightened tensions in Washington to pass a 1,500-page continuing resolution.
Earlier in the week, Musk had publicly criticized an initial bipartisan spending bill proposed by Johnson, posting on X that the bill to funding the government contained "a lot of pork" and was "criminal."
On Tuesday, as drama surrounding the bill ensued, Johnson abandoned the bill and left lawmakers scrambling for an alternative.
Johnson's handling of the spending battle led lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to question his leadership abilities.
Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist, said at an Arizona conference that Johnson "doesn't have the right stuff" to lead the House. Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., added to the speculation by endorsing Musk as a potential Speaker on X.