Congress
Some Democrats want to thaw their frosty relationship with Elon Musk
Ro Khanna is trading texts with Elon Musk. Josh Shapiro took a call from him. And John Fetterman has compared him to the superhero Tony Stark.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to install Musk as the federal government’s cutter-in-chief, some ambitious Democrats are taking a warmer approach to the billionaire businessman than their party leaders have in the past as he has become one the most influential people on the planet.
“He’s had an undeniable impact on the Pennsylvania election, and I think the election overall,” Fetterman, the Democratic Pennsylvania senator, told Blue Light News. “I’ve warned Democrats, if you’re just going to make fun of it or to dismiss it, you do it at our peril. And I think that’s very clear what happened.”
Musk is the world’s richest man, and his companies are helping determine the future of space exploration, electric vehicles, AI and social media. Democrats who are making friendly overtures to him said that they want to shape the thinking of someone who will have an outsize microphone regardless of what they do. They are also eager to encourage him to develop his businesses in their backyards.
Some of them are also eyeing presidential runs in 2028, and may want to avoid getting on his bad side for political reasons. Musk spent $280 million this year supporting Trump and other Republicans.
The relationship between Democrats and Musk has been icy for the past few years. President Joe Biden said Musk’s ties to other countries were “worthy of being looked at” and attacked him as a one-time “illegal worker.” Musk, in turn, called Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris each a “puppet.” Liberals also laughed off Musk’s purchase of X and his efforts to turn out the vote for Trump — with vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mocking him for “skipping like a dipshit” on stage at a rally.
But increasingly, some Democrats are arguing that was the wrong approach and think Musk played an outsize role in helping elect Trump — the latest sign that the left is confronting the president-elect differently this time around. It’s an open question whether other Democrats will follow suit, and either benefit or suffer consequences.
Some Democrats remain deeply skeptical of Musk, who is one of several billionaires and tech leaders Trump has tapped to staff his administration. They see Musk as an oligarch, and are concerned about his plans to slash the federal government with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as incoming co-leaders of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“I reserve the right to be surprised, but this looks to me like a coming kleptocracy, in which all these billionaires are running the government in order to rig the rules,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “So I’m pretty fucking skeptical that this is a legitimate effort.”
Khanna, a House Democrat who represents Silicon Valley and a potential future presidential candidate, has known Musk for more than 10 years. In an interview, he called Musk an “an extraordinary entrepreneur” and said that he fits the mold of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “dollar-a-year men,” the corporate executives who were paid a symbolic salary of $1 annually to help the federal government mobilize for WWII.
Khanna said he has “exchanged texts” with Musk since Trump tapped him to head DOGE. He declined to “go into private exchanges” but said they have discussed “the places where we can collaborate.”
“We have a candid conversation. He also knows where I disagree with him,” he said. “We need to engage these technologists and builders to be part of our coalition, but without compromising our values.”
In a post on X this month, Musk said that Khanna is a “sensible moderate” after the lawmaker said on TV that he disagreed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed electric vehicle subsidy, which would likely exclude his company Tesla. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor who is widely seen as a top 2028 presidential candidate, took a short call from Musk in October when the entrepreneur was sitting in businessman Thomas Tull’s box at a Steelers game. Tull and Musk were reportedly talking about investments in Pennsylvania when Tull decided to call Shapiro and put him on the phone with Musk.
Shapiro told NBC that their conversation “was 100% on economic development.”
“I’m always fighting hard to make sure that folks invest in Pennsylvania,” he said. “We did not discuss politics. We obviously have completely different views on politics, different choices and candidates.”
A Shapiro spokesperson declined to provide more information on the call.
Fetterman, who is also rumored to be eyeing a bid for the White House, said that he has not talked with Musk. But he said he is open to working with him to “cut waste” and argued that “it’s undeniable that he is an innovator, and our American economy is better because of him.” He cautioned Democrats to not dismiss him.
“If our government is issuing checks for billions for his companies to rescue our astronauts, or he’s involved in things like AI and really important things, it’s like he is going to be part of this conversation,” said Fetterman. “And that’s a fact. And you want it to be as productive as possible.”
Even some progressive lawmakers have signaled that they are open to working with Musk, encouraging him to look at the Pentagon for cuts. But their efforts are likely different from some of their moderate colleagues and instead aimed at garnering attention for their longtime goals — slashing the defense budget is one of them — while also holding Trump accountable for his populist campaign promises.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told Blue Light News that “If Elon Musk wants to change government contracting to cut billions of dollars of waste out of the Pentagon budget, count me in.” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said that “I’m all in for cutting waste, making our government efficient and delivering for the people of Georgia” and “I’ll work with whomever I have to work with, if I can, to get that done.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) likewise posted on X, “Elon Musk is right. The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions.”
In some ways, Democrats are returning to form with Musk. Before becoming Trump’s top ally, Musk previously called himself a Democrat and voted for Biden in 2020. As president, Barack Obama met with Musk in the Oval Office and toured SpaceX with him.
By contrast, Musk has complained that Biden’s administration ignored Tesla, including by excluding it from the White House’s electric vehicle event. Biden and Musk have also taken opposing views on labor organizing, with the president supporting the United Auto Workers and the Tesla CEO criticizing the union’s efforts at his company. Musk made a rare visit to Biden’s White House last year, but the meeting was not with the president himself.
During her presidential campaign, Harris likewise held Musk at arm’s length, refusing a proposed interview with him. While touring Pennsylvania in support of Trump, Musk said after the assassination attempts against the former president that “nobody even bothers to try to kill Kamala,” adding, “It’s pointless. Why? They’ll just get another puppet.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the outgoing chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said that she is taking a wait-and-see approach to Musk and DOGE.
“I never say never to working with somebody, but I got to see what it is, because there’s a lot of controversies and hypocrisies that are out there,” said Jayapal. “I’m gonna put together my own list of where I think we should be cutting. And I have a feeling it’s not gonna be the same as their list. But I’m gonna try.”
House Democrats’ campaign arm is expanding its target list just three weeks ahead of Election Day, going on the air for the first time in four more districts with coordinated ad buys with the candidates.
The move, part of $13 million in coordinated ads launching this week across 39 districts and first shared with Blue Light News, is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s largest reach of investments this cycle as Republicans are working to defend a slew of redder seats in the final stretch.
The new districts include a toss-up race in Florida’s newly redrawn 22nd District, which Trump would have won by 10 points in 2024, as well as for Democrats’ uphill fight to defend Maine’s 2nd District, which President Donald Trump carried by nine points and where Democratic Rep. Jared Golden is retiring.
They’re also launching coordinated ads in New Jersey’s swingy 7th District, squarely within New York City’s expensive media market, where Democrats are working to unseat GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr.
The coordinated ad buys also include Texas’s redrawn 35th District, where Democrat Johnny Garcia is running neck and neck with Republican Carlos De La Cruz in a suburban San Antonio district Republicans drew to win that Trump would have carried by 10 points.
The DCCC’s move comes as President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc.-aligned super PAC and a leading House GOP super PAC are planning to ditch spending in a group of House races in the coming days, as they race to shore up other House seats and salvage the Senate GOP majority.
“As Republicans pull out of media markets and cede that they are no longer competitive in multiple districts, the DCCC is continuing to go on the offensive,” DCCC National Political Director Brooke Butler said.
The NRCC has been up with ads in the four districts for weeks.
“While Democrats are just now scraping together the cash to bail out their radical socialists in critical battleground districts, House Republicans have been dominating the airwaves in those same districts and dozens more for weeks,” NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said. “The DCCC is desperately playing catch-up where Republicans have already lapped them.”
The DCCC didn’t share the exact size of the specific coordinated ad buys, only saying they were six-figure commitments.
Former Rep. Mary Peltola raked in $17 million over the last three months, her campaign shared first with Blue Light News, a sizable haul for the Democratic challenger in one of the biggest Senate battlegrounds.
It’s Peltola’s largest quarterly fundraising total in her bid to oust GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan. Her campaign also said it’s a record third-quarter sum for a Senate candidate in Alaska.
“Alaskans are sick and tired of DC politicians making life more expensive for everyone while they keep lining their own pockets, and they know it’s time for a change,” Peltola said in a statement thanking her supporters.
That total includes nearly $3 million in Peltola raised in July, before Alaska’s all-party primary in August, which was previously reported to the Federal Election Commission. Peltola’s campaign did not release her cash on hand for the quarter that ended Oct. 1.
Sullivan’s campaign has not yet released his third-quarter numbers. Sullivan had just under $7.3 million in cash on hand as of July 29, while Peltola had $4.6 million at that point.
Alaska has emerged as a core battleground this cycle as both parties reorient around redder states while Georgia and North Carolina tilt toward Democrats. Recent polls show a tight race.
Republicans are racing to shore up Sullivan in the four-way, ranked-choice general election in which the senator is also facing a same-name challenger in retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan. Some in the party fear he could siphon votes from the incumbent.
President Donald Trump is heading to Alaska for a rally later Tuesday in Wasilla that Sullivan is slated to attend, the senator’s campaign confirmed. Vice President JD Vance swung through the state last week.
Peltola’s fundraising prowess has helped her hold her own on the airwaves. Republicans hold a slim spending advantage on the TV ad reservations for the final three weeks of the campaign, with both parties posting over $9 million in reservations, per tracker AdImpact.
Republicans’ dreams of a productive lame-duck session are dimming.
Members returning to Washington post-election will have a mere 24 legislative days to get through a considerable list of must-pass bills and possibly messy internal leadership fights. That’s if they can overcome a potential transition of power on Capitol Hill and a foul national mood.
Lawmakers’ must-do list includes: an extension of government funding past Dec. 11 and the annual Pentagon policy bill. Major legislation to reauthorize farm, transportation and surveillance programs are also on deck.
Then there are pending bipartisan bills overhauling energy permitting and the college sports industry that many members are itching to get done.
And finally, leaders had deferred some GOP priorities — such as another party-line reconciliation bill or debt-limit increase through the end of President Donald Trump’s term.
All of the measures face their own potential political minefields individually, as well as a number of obstacles across the board:
— ATTENDANCE: There will be little incentive for lawmakers who just lost their seats — “free-range chickens,” some call them — to grind out legislative wins, if they come back at all.
“The question becomes: Who shows up for work after the elections?” Rep. Austin Scott said in an interview. “Attendance is an issue right now.”
— NEW LEVERAGE: If Democrats win control of either chamber, they’ll likely seek greater influence on legislation to push back on Trump’s actions.
For example, Democrats are fuming over the Trump administration’s recent decision to block roughly $1 billion in congressionally approved funding, which could complicate any deal on spending legislation. They’ve also blocked the annual Pentagon policy bill amid a standoff over the Iran war; and they may push for more concessions on the permitting deal.
“The lame duck will be quite different if we win the Senate,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a recent interview.
— GOP DISPUTES: While some Republicans believe that losing a chamber would jump-start the reconciliation process, others privately believe the exact opposite would happen, with incentives waning for exiting lawmakers, according to three GOP aides granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Other GOP senators, like Sen. Cynthia Lummis, are skeptical of a debt-limit increase.
A Democratic flip of the House could also spark a potentially chaotic cascade of GOP leadership elections (more on that below).
Sen. John Kennedy speculated Congress’ agenda would all come down to the vibes of the GOP conference when they returned.
“You have no idea what the mood is going to be,” Kennedy said.
What else we’re watching:
— JOHNSON SCRAMBLES LEADERSHIP OUTLOOK: Republicans are reassessing the dynamics of potential leadership races after Speaker Mike Johnson‘s comments Monday that he would run for minority leader if the GOP loses the House — just days after he floated leaving Congress altogether in that scenario. Many Republicans had predicted Johnson would step aside with a House flip, likely setting off a race between Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan for the top GOP spot. If Johnson stays put, his success may depend on the severity of the party’s loss and if Trump weighs in for a certain candidate. “I hope he’s smarter than that,” one House Republican said of Johnson’s consideration of the minority leader role. “It would end very badly and cause unnecessary damage to the conference.”
— DEMS GEAR UP ON TRADE OVERSIGHT — Democrats on the House Ways and Means, Senate Finance and other panels say Trump’s trade deals were corrupt, and they’re already lining up targets to probe. The party knows it can’t repeal Trump’s tariffs as long as he’s in the White House, but if they win control of Congress, they plan to haul in top administration officials and possibly executives to explain how Trump picked his targets in his trade war — and if others got a pass through suspected quid pro quos.
Jordain Carney, Daniel Desrochers and Oliver Ward contributed to this report.
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