Republican US President-elect Donald Trump and his Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, with the support of billionaire Elon Musk, have launched a campaign against the adoption of the country's temporary budget, provoking the threat of a shutdown.
Points of attention
- Trump, Musk, and Vance are spearheading a campaign against the passing of the US interim budget, potentially leading to a government shutdown.
- Evidence suggests Elon Musk is actively spreading disinformation to block the approval of the temporary budget, creating tension between Republicans and Democrats.
- Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders has condemned Musk's influence on government affairs, highlighting the dangers of billionaires meddling in political processes.
- Trump and Vance are advocating for a clean financing bill without additional conditions, emphasizing the importance of raising the debt ceiling to prevent future negotiations.
- The failure to secure support for the temporary budget bill proposed by Speaker Mike Johnson could trigger a shutdown from December 21, impacting government agencies until March 2025.
What is known about the breakdown of the US interim budget agreement by Trump, Vance and Musk
The bill to approve the temporary budget was proposed by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson.
The approval of this document by Congress would ensure funding for government agencies until March 2025.
However, the bill may not receive support, which will trigger another shutdown in the US starting on Saturday, December 21.
According to journalists from The Hill and Politico, American billionaire Elon Musk is making significant efforts to thwart the passage of the interim budget bill.
To do this, he is actively inciting Republicans against the passage of the bill and spreading disinformation through his own social network X.
Among other things, Musk falsely claims that the document provides:
a 40% increase in congressmen's salaries (actually a maximum of 3.8%);
financing a new stadium for the NFL in Washington from the federal budget (but it was only about transferring land to local authorities);
funding biological weapons laboratories (in reality, it was about research into biomedical threats).
Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders has already reacted sharply to Musk's actions.
Democrats and Republicans have spent months negotiating a bipartisan deal to fund our government. The richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk, doesn't like it. Will Republicans kiss the ring? — Sanders wrote on his X page.
According to him, billionaires like Musk should not be allowed to influence the work of the American government.
What Trump says
At the same time, Musk continues to oppose the passage of this bill, and Trump and J.D. Vance call it treason.
They are urging congressmen to vote for clean funding without additional provisions.
They also stressed the need to raise the debt ceiling along with budget financing to avoid negotiations on this topic as early as June 2025.
