‘No choice’: DOGE leaders rally House conservatives against 1,500+ page ‘pork-fest’

The co-leaders of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have circled the wagons against a stopgap spending bill that has drawn the ire of conservatives in Congress. 

“Unless @DOGE ends the careers of deceitful, pork-barrel politicians, the waste and corruption will never stop,” Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk posted on X on Wednesday afternoon as Republican lawmakers mulled the best way forward for the CR to fund the government. 

“Therefore, there is no choice but to do so. I wish there was another way, but there is not.”

As of Wednesday, the U.S. national debt – which is a measure of what U.S. taxpayers were on the hook for to the nation’s creditors – had reached $36,189,345,826,140.62, and was climbing at a rapid pace, showing no signs of slowing down. Additionally, the federal government’s budget deficit in the recently concluded fiscal year totaled $1.834 trillion, ranking the third largest in U.S. history.

Former Republican presidential candidate and DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy has also been a vocal critic of the legislation and suggested in an X post on Wednesday that Republicans should put forward a simple 1-page resolution.

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“Yes, it *is* possible to enact a simple 1-page Continuing Resolution, instead of 1,500+ page omnibus pork-fest,” Ramaswamy wrote. “Here it is.:”

Ramaswamy continued, “This is what a clean CR looks like. I still don’t love it because it permits the historical spending excesses to continue, but at bare minimum, we shouldn’t be stacking even more waste on top.”

Musk, who posted a video of Ramaswamy railing against the bill urging Americans to call their representatives to “stop the steal of your tax dollars,” spent part of the afternoon re-posting comments from elected Republicans who voiced their opposition to the bill. 

“Thank you!” Musk posted in response to GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna saying she will not vote for the “Cramnibus bill” due to “billions to Ukraine, mask and vaccine mandates, Deep State immunity.”

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“I will still fight for a standalone disaster relief bill,” Luna wrote. 

In an earlier post on X, Musk wrote, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Musk wrote on X.

Congressional leaders released the text of their 1,547-page CR on Tuesday evening after last-minute negotiations delayed its original planned being release Sunday. Since then, it’s seen fierce pushback from conservatives and House GOP hardliners, many of whom are frustrated at the unrelated policy riders attached to the legislation – rather than a “clean” extension of government funding.

The final package extends existing government programs and services at their current operating levels for a few more months, through March 14, 2025.

The stopgap measure is needed because Congress has failed to pass its annual appropriations bills to fund all the various agencies in the federal government, from the Pentagon and national security apparatus, to the health, welfare, transportation and other routine domestic services. When the fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, Congress simply punted the problem by passing a temporary funding bill that expires Friday.

Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram reported on Wednesday afternoon that there is “talk now of pulling the CR and trying to do a ‘clean’ bill. but it is “unclear if that also means no disaster aid.”

Stopping the 1,500 page spending package and forcing a vote on a clean bill would mark a significant victory for DOGE and its supporters, who have been vocally pushing for changes in the way that government spending bills are handled.

“This bill is contrary to the very existence of @DOGE,” GOP Rep. Chip Roy’s press office posted on X. “The @HouseGOP should vote NO. Miss Christmas if we must.”

Pergram posted on X on Wednesday after that the bill was “bleeding support from Republicans.”

“As to Elon Musk weighing in, telling lawmakers that all should be voted out in two years, a member of the House Republican leadership told Fox that Musk ‘is not helping. He has bigger fish to fry than picking a fight with House Republicans,'” Pergram wrote. 

Johnson’s difficulty coming to an agreement with his razor-thin majority in the House has resulted in names being floated to possibly replace him in the next Congress, Fox News Digital reported.

Fox News anchor Lawrence Jones reported late Wednesday afternoon that President-elect Trump is “totally against” the CR although he “acknowledged” that Johnson is in a precarious position. 

During an appearance on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, Johnson shared that while government debt and deficits are a concern, Republicans must approve “short-term stopgap funding measures” while Democrats still control the White House and Senate.

“We’ve got it in our central focus and when we start the new Congress in January, when Republicans are in control and DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) is working on all six cylinders, we’re going to be able to scale back the size and scope of government,” he said.

Johnson also said the move would ensure Republicans can control spending for 2025, describing it as an “impossible position.”

“This is the sausage-making process,” he added.

The House Speaker also revealed that he has been on a text chain with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will helm DOGE.

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“Remember, guys, we still have just a razor-thin margin of Republicans. So, any bill has to have Democrat votes. They understand the situation.” Johnson said, referencing the text exchange.

If Republicans are unable to rally the necessary votes or receive enough support from Democrats to push it through despite the vocal opponents within the party, the country would face a government shutdown on Friday night.

“What does President Trump want Republicans to do: vote for the CR or shut down government? Absent direction, confusion reigns,” said retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, in a sly post on X.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Trump said in a statement, “If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF.”

Musk addressed the shutdown possibility on X writing that “shutting down the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill.”

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Liz Elkind, Nikolas Lanum and the Associated Press contributed to this report