Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) raised eyebrows by suggesting House Speaker Mike Johnson could be swapped with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
As Johnson’s speakership came under threat following his support of Congress’s doomed omnibus stopgap spending bill, Sen. Paul reminded everyone the House Speaker “need not be a member of Congress.”
“Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds),” Paul wrote Thursday.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) championed the notion, sharing a poll on X asking users whether they “support @elonmusk for Speaker of the House?”
“The House controls policy and appropriations (spending) and can cut programs, departments, agencies, as well as make new laws like term limits and pass a balanced budget amendment,” MTG wrote. “DOGE [the Department of Government Efficiency] could become the legislative branch,” she added.
Would you support @elonmusk for Speaker of the House?
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) December 19, 2024
The House controls policy and appropriations (spending) and can cut programs, departments, agencies, as well as make new laws like term limits and pass a balanced budget amendment.
DOGE could become the legislative branch.
Within the first hour of polling 36,000 users, over 82% expressed approval of Musk as Speaker.
Republicans’ suggestion of Musk as House Speaker comes as Speaker Johnson’s position was jeopardized following his approval of the bill – loaded with pork barrel spending for Big Pharma, congressional pay raises, Covid power grabs and more – which was overwhelmingly rejected by GOP legislators, Musk and ultimately President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.
Musk has not responded to the proposals as of writing.