Congress

The Trump-Musk governing duo is clearly a work in progress

Published

1 year ago

December 20, 2024

As Elon Musk unleashed a volley of X posts demanding that Republicans back away from a deal to avert a government shutdown, Donald Trump was publicly silent.

Instead, the president-elect holed up in his office Wednesday in a ballroom above Mar-a-Lago. While Musk riled up the MAGA masses, Trump was holding a series of conversations with top aides — including Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller — as Vice President-elect JD Vance privately expressed Trump’s concerns about the bill on Capitol Hill, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the matter freely.

By the time Trump and Vance finally chimed in several hours later in a joint statement, the measure was already tanked and Speaker Mike Johnson’s future was in jeopardy.

The sequence highlighted the evolving dynamic with his high-profile benefactor-turned-adviser and raised an awkward question for Trump of whether he or Musk was running the show. As GOP lawmakers on Thursday floated the prospect of installing the billionaire businessman as House speaker, and Democrats taunted Trump by claiming Musk was the real leader of the Republican Party, Trump did a round of interviews with reporters seemingly meant to ensure they knew it was his idea to kill the bipartisan funding bill.

In phone interviews with reporters at ABC, CBS and NBC, Trump also called for the debt ceiling to be eliminated or extended and emphasized that if the government did in fact shut down, “it’ll be a Biden shutdown.”

Trump aides and allies insisted that Musk was acting at the president-elect’s direction.

Musk is a “pawn in Trump’s chessboard, like everybody else,” said a person close to Trump who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to speak frankly. The media “really wants to paint Elon as this independent character. If it were a chessboard, [Musk would] be a bishop.”

But the fact that Trump’s spokesperson felt it necessary to issue a statement about who was leading the GOP showed the extent to which lines had been blurred, even among some Republicans and close Trump allies.

“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view. President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, in response to Democrats’ taunts that Musk was actually in charge.

Musk’s involvement in the Capitol Hill fiasco raised questions about whether he was simply getting a head start on his cost-cutting duties as the leader of the newly announced Department of Governmental Efficiency with the blessing of Trump — or freelancing.

Johnson told Fox News on Wednesday morning he spent his evening texting with Musk and his DOGE partner Vivek Ramaswamy about the proposed bill.

“Here’s the question: Is Elon saying to the president, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this.’ And the president’s like, ‘Great, you be the fucking bad guy.’ Or is he just doing this shit? And the president’s like, ‘Ah, fuck,’” said a person close to Trump.

“Elon knows a lot about launching rockets into space. But what does he know about the minutiae of political dealmaking, right? And what it takes to get through? It is very difficult to get things passed when you have [an eight-seat] majority.”

Those razor-thin margins left Johnson scrambling to piece together a stopgap bill that Democrats and Republicans alike could agree to, even if it went far beyond what Trump’s team had made clear the president-elect would support.

If there were any hurt feelings between Trump and Musk, it was not apparent in the immediate aftermath. On Wednesday night, Musk joined Trump at a dinner with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on the patio of Mar-a-Lago.

“The most influential person in the Republican Party is Donald Trump. But the second-most is Elon Musk. He has the attention of a lot of members,” said a House Republican staffer granted anonymity to speak freely.

Much of Musk’s clout comes from his unique ability to fire up the GOP base on social media. A former Republican lawmaker said Musk’s power can’t be overstated. The ex-lawmaker suggested that GOP members are aware of his ability to create a backlash online and take seriously his threat to fund primary challenges against them.

“No one wants to cross him,” the former lawmaker said, adding that it would be foolish to expect any profiles in courage given that most of the more independent-minded lawmakers have already departed.

Some conservative allies and Republicans close to Trump, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), even suggested that Johnson should be replaced by Musk.

“I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House,” Greene posted. “The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday.”

The 24 hours of chaos — a foreshadowing of future negotiations on Capitol Hill — resulted in a GOP plan that both Trump and Musk endorsed. (Its fate is in doubt after Democrats came out opposed.)

“SUCCESS in Washington!” Trump declared on X. “Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People.”

Musk reposted Trump’s statement, and later clarified that he did not have anything to do with the new deal.

“I’m not the author of this proposal. Credit to @realDonaldTrump, @JDVance & @SpeakerJohnson,” Musk wrote.

Eli Stokols and Betsy Woodruff Swan contributed to this report.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Trump leaves Congress in dark on Iran deal

Published

36 minutes ago

June 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans want a say on a deal President Donald Trump is touting to end the monthslong war in Iran.

The absence of publicly released text for the “memorandum of understanding” Vice President JD Vance reportedly signed with Iranian officials Sunday sparked bipartisan scrutiny on Capitol Hill about what the deal might entail.

Senators in both parties agreed: More information needs to come to Congress soon, and any agreement touching on the future of the Iranian nuclear program would have to eventually be subject to a congressional vote.

“If you want a deal to last, it can’t be an executive agreement,” said Sen. James Lankford. “We’ve got to have a vote of Congress to be able to solidify [it] long term.”

The Trump administration said it expects release of the memorandum of understanding no later than Friday.

The agreement reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, but it’s not clear to what degree Iran will be required to abandon its nuclear program. The White House circulated talking points to Hill Republicans Monday touting the deal, including that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” and “energy prices … are coming down,” according to a copy of the document reviewed by Blue Light News.

“If it’s a secret deal, then how can I take it seriously?” Sen. Thom Tillis told reporters.

Weighing heavily on several lawmakers is the possibility of an agreement landed by the administration looking very similar to the last Iran nuclear deal, consummated more than a decade ago by then-President Barack Obama amid a bipartisan uproar over trading sanctions relief and cash concessions to the Iranian regime in return for curbs on its nuclear ambitions.

Democrats believe Trump should’ve never abandoned that deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — in his first term, while GOP defense hawks despised it from the start.

“If [the Iranians] can enrich [uranium] anywhere at all, then it’s the same as JCPOA,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham of the Trump administration’s forthcoming deal. “If they can’t enrich, then that makes it a good deal.”

One legacy of that 2015 controversy: the GOP-controlled Congress at the time passed legislation allowing for congressional review of any agreement dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. That law gives members the ability to kill a deal via a disapproval resolution that could be subject to presidential veto.

In the absence of further details, senators mainly agreed that they wanted a chance to formally review and vote on Trump’s deal — even as some Republicans predicted the administration would find a way to avoid that happening.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday there is “probably some expectation” that his chamber would ultimately vote on the agreement while declining to weigh in on the particulars.

“I just don’t know enough about it yet, and I don’t think even the people who follow this stuff closely up here know that much about it,” he said, adding that he expected Vance or other administration officials to brief members on the deal at some point.

What else we’re watching:

— DEMS NONCOMMITTAL ON SPEEDY CLAYTON CONFIRMATION: It’s unclear if Senate Republicans will be able to move at the lightning speed they’d hoped to in confirming Jay Clayton to serve as director of national intelligence by the end of the week. If every Senate Intelligence member agrees, Clayton could get a committee vote Thursday following his Wednesday hearing. Confirming Clayton on the Senate floor hours later would require getting agreement from every senator to speed up the process. Opposition from a single member would punt a vote to next week.

— THUNE AIMS FOR HOUSING BILL PASSAGE THIS WEEK: Thune is hoping his chamber can pass an updated version of a bipartisan housing affordability bill by the end of the week. The legislation comes after talks between Thune, Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott and ranking member Elizabeth Warren. Two Senate Democratic aides granted anonymity to discuss ongoing plans said the bill was also discussed with the House and the White House.

Katherine Hapgood contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate Republicans want a say on Trump’s Iran deal

Published

12 hours ago

June 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump is touting a deal that would end the monthslong war with Iran — and potentially ease some of the political headwinds bearing down on Republicans.

GOP lawmakers still have lots of questions.

The absence of publicly released text for the “memorandum of understanding” Vice President JD Vance reportedly signed with Iranian officials Sunday left an information vacuum on Capitol Hill, where senators of both parties were left airing concerns about what the deal might entail.

Even most Republicans agreed: More information needs to come to Congress soon, and any agreement touching on the future of the Iranian nuclear program would have to eventually be subject to a congressional vote.

“If you want a deal to last, it can’t be an executive agreement,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “We’ve got to have a vote of Congress to be able to solidify [it] long term.”

The bipartisan scrutiny of the long-brewing agreement is a legacy of the last Iran nuclear deal, consummated more than a decade ago by then-President Barack Obama amid a bipartisan uproar over trading sanctions relief and cash concessions to the Iranian regime in return for curbs on its nuclear ambitions.

Trump withdrew from the deal in his first term, and now he is back with an agreement that — pending release of the text and final negotiations yet to come — could end up looking like Obama’s deal. That has raised the hackles of both defense hawks who despised the original agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and Democrats who believe Trump never should have left it in the first place.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of those defense hawks, told reporters that he was “pulling for a deal,” while also making note of serious discrepancies in the terms that have emerged thus far.

“The MOU being described by us sounds really very good; the MOU being described by Iran sounds awful,” Graham said.

“If they can enrich [uranium] anywhere at all, then it’s the same as JCPOA. If they can’t enrich, then that makes it a good deal,” he continued, adding in a separate conversation that he was “skeptical that Iran will ever go there” to cease enrichment.

The Trump administration said it expects release of the memorandum of understanding no later than Friday.

The possibility that Congress would take any kind of vote on the agreement is also a legacy of the 2015 deal. Amid bipartisan concern about the Obama administration’s pursuit of nuclear talks, the GOP-controlled House and Senate that year passed legislation allowing for congressional review of any agreement dealing with the Iranian nuclear program.

That law, however, does not require Congress to approve a deal — it rather gives it the ability to kill a deal via a disapproval resolution that could be subject to presidential veto. That means each chamber would have to effectively muster a two-thirds majority to block Trump, something it did not come close to doing in 2015.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday there is “probably some expectation” that his chamber would ultimately vote on the agreement while declining to weigh in on the particulars.

The lack of specificity was par for the course on Capitol Hill Monday, with many senators expressing exasperation that text of the signed agreement has not yet been released.

“If it’s a secret deal, then how can I take it seriously?” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters.

The agreement reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, but it’s not clear to what degree Iran will be required to abandon its nuclear program. Vance indicated in a series of interviews that the administration will attempt to ensure Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon but left details regarding civilian nuclear facilities and potential uranium enrichment unaddressed.

The White House circulated talking points to Hill Republicans Monday touting the deal including that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” and “energy prices … are coming down,” according to a copy of the document reviewed by Blue Light News. The administration also argued in the memo that the agreement “beats” the Obama-era agreement.

In the absence of further details, senators mainly agreed that they wanted a chance to formally review and vote on the deal — even as some Republicans predicted the administration would find a way to avoid that happening.

“I don’t expect that to happen,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said about a vote. “They’ll try to write it around the treaty requirements, so I don’t expect we’ll vote on it.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said the administration should send the deal to Congress “if they want it to be something other than a political agreement, like the JCPOA was.”

Most congressional Republicans have been eager for Trump to find a way out of the nearly four-month war, which has driven up energy prices ahead of the November elections. Thune predicted Monday that a deal would “have a very positive impact on the economic situation in the country and that obviously will translate into the political situation in the country.”

Some of Trump’s most vocal allies on Capitol Hill praised the agreement Monday.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said has had conversations with senior White House officials and he was “very hopeful.” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who is likely the next Senate GOP campaign chair, added on X: “President Trump deserves our trust and support as he works to bring peace to the Middle East.”

Democrats were largely keeping their powder dry Monday on how they would handle a vote on the agreement. Some could find it hard to oppose a deal that ends hostilities on negotiated terms roughly similar to what was secured under a Democratic president in 2015.

But plenty of Democrats questioned what was gained by the conflict.

“We still don’t know the details,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. “The American people need to know exactly what’s in the deal. … We know this for certain: We are worse off than before Trump began his foolish war of choice.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

Thune is ‘hopeful’ Mitch McConnell will return this week

Published

17 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he hopes his predecessor as top Republican, Mitch McConnell, returns this week from a hospitalization.

Thune said he had not yet spoken directly with the 84-year-old Kentuckian but is getting “readouts from his staff.”

Asked about McConnell’s condition or if he knew if he would be back this week, Thune told reporters, “I’m hopeful that he’ll be back this week.”

A McConnell spokesperson said Sunday that he had been admitted to the hospital but did not provide details on his condition or why he was hospitalized — a break from recent prior instances where the seven-term senator was hospitalized.

A former McConnell staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity was told the senator was doing much better Monday without any further details on what put him in the hospital.

Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.