AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The federal government faces the prospect of a shutdown at midnight tonight, thanks in part to Elon Musk. The billionaire owner of the social media site X holds no elected office but used his considerable platform and proximity to President-elect Donald Trump to help sink a spending plan negotiated earlier this week. NPR's Stephen Fowler is here to help us understand what happened. Hi, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.
CHANG: OK, so let me just get this straight. A bipartisan spending proposal was withdrawn on Wednesday. A slimmer version failed to get enough votes Thursday. And today, Congress has until midnight to act to prevent a shutdown. Where does Elon Musk fit into all of this?
FOWLER: So, Ailsa, Musk posted a lot - like, more than 100 times in a day a lot - earlier this week about the continuing resolution to keep the government open into next year. He said it was much too spending beyond the basics. He called it criminal and suggested a shutdown until Trump takes office January 20.
Thursday's version raised the government's debt ceiling without cutting spending, and lots of fiscal conservatives did not like that, so the bill failed, even with Musk's blessing. Now, his online frenzy has illustrated a very elementary and incomplete understanding of how politics in Congress works, which has led to even more conflict for an already-narrow GOP House majority that's had issues governing the last few years.
CHANG: Indeed. OK, well, Musk is not a politician, has no governmental experience. How did he get into this position to influence if the government has funding or not?
FOWLER: Being the richest man in the world has its perks.
CHANG: I suppose so.
FOWLER: He's been a big booster - he has been a big booster both financially and rhetorically to President-elect Trump. I mean, Musk also owns a social media site that's become this center of discourse for those on the right seeking to influence policy. Musk also exists as a sort of persona that transcends partisan labels or ideological purity, kind of in a way that mimics Trump's populism. He's been a constant fixture at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump has been planning his transition.
CHANG: Right. And also, Musk has been tapped to co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. This is a group that exists outside of the government aimed at cutting government spending. So how does this current fight preview his role in Trump's next term, you think?
FOWLER: We have a billionaire with a lot of interests before the government who has become the face of Trumpism's desire to slash regulations and cut government spending. A lot of conservative voters and politicians feel the federal government is broken and needs to change, and that means turning a spotlight on Democrats and Republicans that get in the way.
Some Democrats and Republicans are frustrated that Musk's pressure campaign over the spending bill included sharing things online that were not true, like grossly dramatically overstating a proposed pay raise for lawmakers. Other Republicans have said it's not helpful to target people that ostensibly are on the same team.
CHANG: Well, Republicans are not strangers to working with Trump's idiosyncrasies, as we might say, around legislation. So have they indicated that they are ready to do the same with Musk?
FOWLER: I have seen, Ailsa, lawmakers tag Elon Musk in posts on X, pleading their case for or against these bills. Others are seeing more value in just aligning themselves with Musk, praising the so-called DOGE efforts and tacking onto his messaging.
Here's another political reality, though. Trump will be president next month, not Musk, and Musk's time in the center of attention is not guaranteed to continue, especially if he upstages the leader of the party, who is Donald Trump, and especially if Trump bears the brunt of an unpopular government shutdown led by Republicans.
CHANG: That is NPR's Stephen Fowler. Thank you, Stephen.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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