By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-18 21:48:18 | Updated at 2024-12-19 00:53:05
3 hours ago
Elon Musk, tapped by US president-elect Donald Trump to prune the federal government, on Wednesday pressured Republicans in Congress to reject a stopgap spending bill, which would trigger a partial government shutdown.
Musk said Congress should pass no laws until Trump returns to the White House next month, but some House of Representatives members immediately said they would vote for the stopgap bill.
The Tesla chief executive and world’s richest person, who spent more than US$250 million to help Trump get elected, said lawmakers who vote to extend government funding past Friday should be voted out of office.
That could complicate efforts to avert a shutdown that would disrupt everything from air travel to law enforcement days before the Dec. 25 Christmas holiday.
“This criminal bill should NOT pass,” Musk wrote on social media.
Unless Congress acts, the federal government will run out of money to fund operations on Saturday. Negotiators on Tuesday agreed on a deal to extend funding through March 14.
