“One tweet and they run for the hills”: Republicans don’t know who’s in charge as shutdown looms

With less than twelve hours to go until a lapse in federal funding will force a government shutdown, House Republicans aren’t sure who to listen to.

House Speaker Mike Johnson failed to whip votes for a Thursday evening bid to fund the government. That bill came after Trump sunk a deal agreed upon by bipartisan leadership in both the House and Senate. The second attempt, spearheaded by Johnson, lost by a vote of 174-235, with nearly 40 Republicans jumping ship.

 President-elect Donald Trump’s demand on Thursday that “all Republicans” should vote yes on the second bill fell on deaf ears.  Some of Trump’s most ardent supporters voted against the bill, which included a Trump demand to suspend the debt ceiling for the first several years of his presidency.

Johnson is still trying to hammer out a deal as of Friday evening, but Trump and his campaign financier Elon Musk seem willing to let the government flounder.

Johnson announced on Friday afternoon that a “Plan C” deal was done. The new proposition would split a resolution to continue funding the government, a farm aid bill and a disaster relief bill into separate votes, caving to the demands of some GOP reps who voted down the first package. 

“We will not have a government shutdown,” Johnson told reporters.

Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said that the package could be dead in the water, arguing that Musk pulls the strings in the lower chamber and could tank the bid with a post to social media. 

“This may not pass the House because all it takes is one tweet from a billionaire 15 minutes from now, and House Republicans will go running for the hills,” Murphy told CNN on Friday. “Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, they’re in charge of our government right now, it seems.”

The man Democrats have dubbed “President Musk”  has exerted his influence to stop previous budget deals. During a day-long tirade on X against the original deal, Musk argued that the House should shut the government down until Trump is sworn in as president. 

All this back-and-forth has made a deal seem unlikely. Democrats aren’t willing to hand Trump a political win on raising the debt ceiling, and the GOP’s hardline fiscal hawks are even less likely to budge.

Given the stacked odds of getting what he wants, Trump has come around to Musk’s contention that the whole apparatus of government should grind to a halt. 

“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration,” Trump said in a pair of posts to Truth Social on Friday. “Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal.”

Johnson’s congressional allies seem unconvinced the speaker can rally the troops before a midnight deadline to fund the government.

South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson, who voted in favor of the collapsed Trump-Johnson deal on Thursday evening, told reporters that a “technical shutdown” was a strong possibility as in-fighting persisted.

Johnson’s stewardship of the House might be up for renegotiation, too. Trump’s allies are increasingly critical of his leadership, with some suggesting Musk might be a better fit.

Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene of Florida endorsed the co-head of the as-yet unofficial Department of Government Efficiency for the role on Thursday, denouncing Johnson’s support for higher spending. 

“I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House,” Greene wrote on X. “DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency.”

Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, sees a future where either Musk or Vivek Ramaswamy hold the gavel in the House.

“I don’t think the speaker is going to remain in power,” he shared with Fox News. “We need bold new leadership.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested on Friday that any shutdown would be the GOP’s to own, regardless of who controls the presidency.

“They created this mess,” Jean-Pierre said. “Republicans decided to…give space to their billionaire friends and not put the American people first. That’s what is happening.”