Bernie Sanders blasts 'President Elon Musk' for derailing spending deal

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took aim at tech mogul Elon Musk for saying that any lawmaker supporting the continuing resolution for the newly unveiled end-of-the-year funding deal should be voted out of office.

"Democrats and Republicans spent months negotiating a bipartisan agreement to fund our government. The richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk, doesn’t like it. Will Republicans kiss the ring?" Sanders wrote in a post on the social platform X on Wednesday.

"Billionaires must not be allowed to run our government," the prominent progressive senator added.

The comment from Sanders comes after Musk made posts calling for lawmakers who support the legislation to be voted out of office. Sanders previously called out billionaires who have embraced President-elect Trump in support of their agendas.

“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote in a post Wednesday.

“Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel!” he added in a separate post. “They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention.” 

Capitol Hill leaders are scrambling to pass a stopgap funding bill, called a continuing resolution (CR), to avoid a government shutdown Friday.

The bipartisan deal unveiled Tuesday night would push the funding deadline to March 14, giving the incoming Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress more time to discuss funding with Trump. 

Musk, who is set to co-lead Trump's newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, had come out against the deal early Wednesday morning in another post, saying it "should not pass."

Similarly, Ramaswamy also urged lawmakers to vote against the deal Wednesday if they are “serious about government efficiency,” arguing it is “full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways and pork barrel politics” 

“The legislation will end up hurting many of the people it purports to help. Debt-fueled spending sprees may ‘feel good’ today, but it’s like showering cocaine on an addict: it’s not compassion, it’s cruelty,” Ramaswamy wrote on X. 

On Wednesday, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance also called for Republicans to approve a clean stopgap funding bill paired with a hike to the debt ceiling, saying the previous government-funding measure negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) should be torpedoed.

Trump said any Republican lawmaker who backs a continuing resolution without including an increase to the debt limit should face a primary challenge.