Professor Richardson has an admirably succinct summary of the events over the last few days in our nation’s capitol[1]:
As CNN’s Erin Burnett pointed out “the world’s richest man [Elon Musk], right now, holding the country hostage,” Democrats worked to call attention to this crisis. …
Tonight [that is, the evening of Dec 20, 2024] the House passed a measure much like the one Musk and Trump had undermined, funding the government and providing the big-ticket disaster and farm relief but not raising or getting rid of the debt ceiling. According to Jennifer Scholtes of Politico, Republican leadership tried to get party members on board by promising to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion early in 2025 while also cutting $2.5 trillion in “mandatory” spending, which covers Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP nutrition assistance.
34 Republicans voted against, 15 Republicans and 14 Democrats did not vote, and the balance of each Party were for it, for 366 votes. Of most importance:
The fiasco of the past few days is a political blow to Trump. Musk overshadowed him, and when Trump demanded that Republicans free him from the debt ceiling, they ignored him. Meanwhile, extremist Republicans are calling for Johnson’s removal, but it is unclear who could earn the votes to take his place. And, since the continuing resolution extends only until mid-March, and the first two months of Trump’s term will undoubtedly be consumed with the Senate confirmation hearings for his appointees—some of whom are highly questionable—it looks like this chaos will continue into 2025.
Publicity hound Trump may be furious with Speaker Johnson (R-LA) for not delivering a debt ceiling increase, a demand he added to the debate just a few days ago, and he may be furious with Musk for making both Trump and Musk look like losers in this contest.
Seasoned politicians know that you win some, you lose some, but Trump and Musk have influence due to their air of invincibility, even if Trump’s aura is more than a little tainted from his various failures.
But what about his backers? This is a hit to their investments. If some of those are of international stature, such as President Putin, could Musk be in trouble? In very serious trouble?
This could become frighteningly interesting.
