Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said it feels as if tech billionaire Elon Musk has become the United States’s prime minister.
Gonzales joined CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where host Margaret Brennan asked him about the “confusing” dynamic between President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Musk.
“It’s kind of interesting. We have a president, we have a vice president, we have a Speaker,” he said. “It feels like as if Elon Musk is our prime minister.”
Musk, who has been appointed to co-lead Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” became tangled in the government spending negotiations in Congress.
He called for the backers of the initial bipartisan funding bill to be voted out in their midterm elections. The original legislation was criticized by Musk and other conservatives who were concerned about spending.
Musk, who owns the social platform X, posted online dozens of times, calling for members to reject the package that Johnson had brought forth. The Speaker was sent back to the drawing board as Congress barreled toward the government shutdown deadline, narrowly agreeing on a deal in the early hours of Saturday morning.
As the CEO of Tesla, Musk is the world’s richest man. He funneled nearly $250 million into Trump’s presidential campaign and said he’d help Republican candidates through the midterms.
On Sunday, Gonzales said he spoke to Musk “a couple of times” last week.
“He has a voice, and I think a … large part of that voice is a reflection of the voice of the people,” Gonzales said of Musk.
The Texas Republican also criticized the original spending package, noting that it is “what’s wrong” with Congress.
“We have to get back to regular order,” he said.
