Musk, an influential ally of President-elect Donald Trump, took to social media to repeatedly denounce the funding bill, helping to convince House GOP leadership to pull a vote on the legislation just days before a government shutdown could begin Friday at midnight.

“Kill the Bill,” Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he owns.

In another post, he urged constituents to call their members of Congress to “stop the steal of your tax dollars!”

Musk’s efforts came hours before Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance released a joint statement excoriating the spending bill, effectively killing off the 1,547-page bill.

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The now-dead continuing resolution would have funded the government through mid-March and included a $110.4 billion supplemental package for disaster relief and farmers’ economic assistance.

But House and Senate Republicans balked at the additional spending items, such as increasing pay for members of Congress, added to the must-pass bill.

In the aftermath, some GOP lawmakers remain peeved that Musk’s online antics created unnecessary political headaches.

“I love it when people come in at the eleventh hour. Where were they last week amid all the discussions?” said one House Republican, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “They should have called the speaker and worked with him. Tweeting against the speaker when we are on the same side is weak.”

“When you treat your own side like s***, then don’t count on loyalty back,” the lawmaker added.

As the co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has been tasked with eliminating excessive government spending, with a stated goal of cutting $2 trillion, a high price that would cause untold backlash if implemented.

At least one lawmaker referenced the near impossibility of cutting that amount of money without essentially abandoning people who need assistance.

“Elon would like to, you know, cut a bunch of the spending out of the CR, but it’s just a CR, and the additional spending are things like continuation of a farm program that’s in year seven of a five-year authorization,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told the Washington Examiner. “And, you know, $100 billion which probably isn’t adequate for Helene victims and Milton victims. I mean, those aren’t fake problems — the Carolinas and Florida and Southeast, those are real people with really severe problems that only the collective generosity of the American taxpayer can really solve.”

Cramer also alluded to the fact that Musk is not an elected member of Congress who votes on legislation. “We’re the elected people that have to make the decision whether we’re going to help the victims of major disasters in this country,” he said.

Across the aisle, congressional Democrats branded the tech billionaire a “shadow president” after his more than 100 tweets on Wednesday against the spending bill succeeded in tanking it.

“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? Billionaires must not be allowed to run our government,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who caucuses with Democrats, in a post on X.

“It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump. Shadow President Elon Musk spent all day railing against Republicans’ CR, succeeded in killing the bill, and then Trump decided to follow his lead,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), outgoing chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote in a post to X. 

In a statement, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, slammed Musk’s interference as “a massive conflict of interest” before further taunting his elevated status in Trump’s orbit.

“At the behest of President-Elect Elon Musk, Republicans have once again brought the U.S. to the brink of a dangerous shutdown that will leave everyday Americans out in the cold,” Nadler said.

The Trump transition team dismissed those reports in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view. President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary.

After spending more than $100 million of his own fortune to aid Trump’s reelection efforts, Musk’s influence has grown exponentially, albeit with mixed results.

He threw support for an updated version of the Kids Online Safety Act earlier this month, tried unsuccessfully to muscle in Howard Lutnick as Trump’s treasury secretary nominee, and failed to convince the GOP to elect Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) as the incoming Senate majority leader last month.

But he has also remained beside Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the aftermath of the November election, joined a previous Trump phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and met privately with Iran’s U.N. ambassador, as well as vetted Cabinet nominees.

Some Republican leaders welcomed Musk’s efforts to influence Congress. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said he “appreciates” Musk’s comments. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) was more effusive in his praise of Musk. “I love it. I love it, and I love the fact that they’re paying attention,” he said.

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Scott described Musk as a constructive force to steer Congress to the right, noting the “organic” grassroots support he received after Musk backed him in last month’s leadership race.

“I mean, people are active now, reading these things and seeing what’s happening,” Scott said. “I’ve been up here for six years trying to get people to understand the fiscal insanity.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is up for a tough reelection battle in 2026, pointed to the problems House GOP leadership already had with getting the votes to pass the spending bill.

“I’ve seen some of the reports about how Elon basically vetoed it,” he told reporters. “I’m sure his voice weighed in, but it clearly had a structural problem before anybody opined on it.”

“It wasn’t like they were just waiting to schedule the vote so that it would be convenient for everybody. They were waiting to schedule the vote because they didn’t have the votes,” he also said.

Other lawmakers took it one step further, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) calling for Musk to seek higher office.

“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul wrote on X. “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk … think about it … nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).”

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While Musk’s efforts have already alienated some lawmakers on Capitol Hill, it possibly hurt his relationship with Trump, who has stressed that he wants the debt limit canceled, to the delight of some Democrats.

“Right now, it seems to me, whether they know it or not, Elon Musk and Donald Trump are at odds with one another,” said Cramer.

Some Republicans argued that MAGA supporters are likely energized by Musk’s tireless online efforts.

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“This is supposed to be a representative government — and Elon represents the views of a lot of people,” a senior Republican who requested anonymity said. “These people expect members of Congress to be on their side. Sure, Elon has a bigger megaphone than the average person, but he’s speaking for tens of millions who have every right to be heard.

“I think strong outside pressure helps get a better deal done,” the senior Republican said of Musk’s pressure campaign. “The pitchforks are online. If the pitchforks were to go away, Congress would revert to normal swamp behavior. It’s super hard to round up the votes to make changes like this. But people will do hard things when there’s something harder and stronger pushing for it to happen. They need him.”