How Trump and Elon Musk caused Congress' nightmare before Christmas

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

68% : "On Thursday morning, Trump was also quick to tell NBC News in a phone interview that Musk's flurry of social media posts opposing the original deal came with his blessing.
66% : And in fact, Donald Trump, it appears, is following his orders," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said Thursday on CNN.
61% : "President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party.
55% : "Quite honestly, I think one of the ways that this could get fixed fairly quickly would be if President Trump would come up to Washington tomorrow or spend the weekend here and talk to people face to face," he said Thursday evening.
47% : But then they got a taste of what the next four years might be like with Donald Trump back in the White House and Musk, the world's richest man, wielding enormous power over the political process.
47% : Conservative Republicans and right-wing talkers blasted the plan as the sort of status quo Washington politics that Trump campaigned to end during the election.
47% : "I told him that if he agrees with me that he could put out a statement," Trump said.
42% : But even after a significant arm-twisting and primary threats from Trump and his allies, the new plan went down in flames on the House floor Thursday night with significant Republican opposition.
40% : Trump has named Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to run a new nongovernment agency aimed at increasing "government efficiency.
39% : Musk posted Wednesday afternoon on X.Later in the day, Trump himself came out against it, making it clear the bill was done.
38% : On Wednesday, Trump -- with help from Musk -- effectively killed the funding legislation put together by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a 1,500-page bill packed with the byproduct of the traditional horse-trading that generally defines congressional dealmaking.
38% : "Donald Trump Jr. -- who had also been posting in opposition to the first bill -- said in a brief interview Thursday that the original continuing resolution that his father effectively tanked was "ridiculous."Asked about Musk's and his father's roles in torpedoing the resolution, Trump Jr. said, "I think they both agree on the insanity of what was in there: 1,500 pages that no one has a possibility to digest."The shutdown fight was the first postelection test for Trump and his ability to once again whip Republicans who do not yet control the White House or the Senate, and it put a spotlight on the role Musk is likely to play at least in the early days of his second administration.
38% : But the proposal's defeat leaves no plan in place as the clock ticks down on a government shutdown -- one that could drag into the holidays and into the busy month of January, when a new Congress will take office, the election results need to be certified and Trump is set to be inaugurated.
36% : Musk, who spent more than $250 million getting Trump elected, posted about his opposition to the original spending deal well over 100 times over the past two days, with threats to fund primary challenges to anyone who voted for the plan, which was six weeks in the making.
36% : "As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the [continuing resolution], Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view," Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.
32% : The failure was a defeat for Trump, who -- despite his election win -- still cannot single-handedly control everything that happens in Washington.
27% : But even in the measure's failure, the negotiations over the budget deal have solidified a handful of new political truths: With President Joe Biden staying completely silent on the negotiations, he has left a void allowing Trump to position himself as a second president, while Johnson's status as speaker is contingent on keeping Trump happy, and Musk's role as the nascent administration's muscle and money is now not just hypothetical but rather something he can use to try to move votes and potentially end political careers.
24% : That ended late Wednesday, when Trump torched the plan as "ridiculous and extraordinarily expensive" and doomed it.
23% : Trump, who spent considerable political capital pushing the second proposed spending plan, has not yet commented on its failure.
20% : Roy's public opposition earned him direct threats from Trump about a primary challenge.
14% : But Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., suggested that if Trump did speak out -- again -- it might make a difference.

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