Elon Musk, after his pushback against a first attempt to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open, is like a "prime minister" for the United States, GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales said Sunday.
"We have a president, we have a vice president, we have a speaker. It feels as if Elon Musk is our prime minister," the Texas Republican told CBS' "Face the Nation."
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO co-heads a new agency, the Department of Government Efficiency that was created by President-elect Donald Trump, and has quickly become a major adviser as the transition to the new administration continues.
Republicans shuttered the initial bipartisan deal last Thursday after Musk slammed it through several posts on X, the social media giant he owns.
Trump insisted in an interview with NBC News that he had discussed his opinion on the initial bill with Musk and had granted the billionaire his permission to lay into the spending bill through his social media platform.
The president-elect also pushed back Sunday against media reports suggesting Musk is acting as a shadow president, saying in a speech at the Turning Point Action's America Fest in Arizona that the DOGE co-chair is "not taking the presidency" and calling the reports a "hoax."
Gonzales was among 34 Republicans who voted against the final bipartisan bill passed Friday to avert a shutdown. He said he was against it because his constituents also opposed it.
"It was a vote on my end to say, Let's do our job," he said. He added that there is a "sickness in D.C." that "big, long, pork-filled bills" will not cure.
Gonzales said he spoke with Musk a few times during the week, and said that even though the billionaire is not an elected official, he reflects "the voice of the people."
The congressman also said Trump deserves the credit for shortening the bill, which was originally almost 1,600 pages, down to its much shorter firm.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson has come under criticism over the continuing resolution, particularly after he championed the initial version that came under fire from Trump and Musk.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., last week floated Musk as the next House speaker, but on Sunday backed down from that stance in a Fox News interview, saying he was a little "tongue-in-cheek" with the suggestion.
"I think Elon's got some important stuff to do, building rockets and making Teslas, but I do appreciate his input, and he has changed the debate," Paul said, also stressing that as a senator he has no say in the House leadership's election. "He's drawing attention to the things I've been talking about for a decade, the waste."
Gonzales said he still supports Johnson as speaker, as he has "done a fantastic job keeping us all together."
"It is like feral cats in the House," he said. "The fact he was able to work with President Trump to whittle it down to a little over 100 pages, the fact he was able to work with Elon Musk and some of these other folks, other members to find a solution, goes to prove he's found a way."
However, Gonzales warned: "This can't be the norm."