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US senators were stunned as President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk thwarted a bipartisan plan to prevent a government shutdown.

Why it matters

Trump’s order to curb the spending plan plunged Congress into chaos as lawmakers now have to go back to the drawing board. They have until Friday – just days before Christmas – to pass the continuing resolution or the government will shut down.

What you should know

“That surprised me,” Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who represents Maine, told HuffPost’s Igor Bobic.

Vermont Democratic Senator Peter Welch described the developments as “a bolt of lightning coming from the sky.”

“Republicans need to get smart and get tough,” Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance said in a statement opposing the deal on Wednesday evening.
They called for the debt ceiling to be raised, saying that while it was “not great,” they would rather it happen “under Biden’s watch,” referring to outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden.

The statement came after Musk, who will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) starting next year, strongly opposed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s government funding bill.

“Shutting down the government (which, by the way, doesn’t actually shut down critical functions) is infinitely better than passing a terrible bill,” Musk wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Welch alluded to Musk’s involvement in blocking the deal, saying, “The fact that it was repealed because of one person’s lobbying is a real sign of the weakness of what’s going on in the House of Representatives.”

Several House Republicans have publicly opposed Johnson’s spending deal in recent days. With that in mind, the House Speaker is reportedly considering cutting $100 billion in disaster relief funding from the package.

That angered a number of Republican lawmakers.

“If congressional leaders intend to leave DC before the holidays without passing emergency recovery, they should be prepared to spend Christmas at the Capitol,” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina wrote on X. “I will use every tool available use to block a CR.” fails communities in Western North Carolina that need long-term security.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham echoed Tillis, saying, “Anyone who thinks disaster relief is pork, come to where I live and look at what happened in my state, in North Carolina and Georgia.”

Graham’s comments were a not-so-subtle nod to a social media post from Musk that said, “Have you ever seen a larger piece of pork?” The post was accompanied by a photo of a printed copy of the bill.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.