Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took to social media on Thursday to suggest Elon Musk should be the next House speaker in the aftermath of the tech billionaire helping to sink a bipartisan stopgap spending bill to fund the federal government.
Paul's post to X comes amid a perilous time for current House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who put forth a continuing resolution that added a ton of new spending in order to get Democrat support to fund the government through March 14. Johnson yanked the CR after Musk and President-elect Donald Trump panned the bloated stopgap.
The House speaker does not have to be a member of Congress.
"Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk," Paul said in a tweet on Thursday morning. "Think about it ... nothing's impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka 'uniparty,' lose their ever-lovin’ minds]."
The idea got a thumbs up from at least one Republican in the lower chamber.
"I'd be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way," posted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., an oft-critic of Johnson's.
Musk on Wednesday led a chorus of opposition against the CR in a series of tweets that ultimately led to its demise.
"Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!" the billionaire who helped back Trump's return to the White House said in one post to X.
In a separate post Thursday, Greene said Johnson "doesn't understand the mandate."
"The American people fired the Democrats, so what they want is irrelevant, and Democrats really need to take that into account," she wrote. "Johnson needs to stop the same failed pattern making dirty swamp deals behind closed doors and keeping everyone in the dark."
Despite the pressure on Johnson, Trump told Fox News on Thursday that Johnson will "easily remain speaker," provided he "acts decisively and tough and gets rid of all the traps being set by Democrats."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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