Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two co-chiefs of the Department of Government Efficiency, slammed that stopgap spending deal and said all Congress members should vote against the bill as the excessive spending would hurt many. The stopgap measure’s text, released days before the December 20 shutdown deadline, aims to push the deadline and give the next Congress and incoming president more time to decide how the government should be funded for the majority of next year.
“Keeping the government open until March 14 will cost ~$380BN by itself, but the true cost of this omnibus CR is far greater due to new spending. Renewing the Farm Bill for an extra year: ~$130BN. Disaster relief: $100BN. Stimulus for farmers: $10BN. The Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement: $8BN. The proposal adds at least 65 cents of new spending for every dollar of continued discretionary spending,” Ramaswamy wrote in a lengthy post.

“The legislation will end up hurting many of the people it purports to help. Debt-fueled spending sprees may “feel good” today, but it’s like showering cocaine on an addict: it’s not compassion, it’s cruelty. Farmers will see more land sold to foreign buyers when taxes inevitably rise to meet our obligations. Our children will be saddled with crippling debt. Interest payments will be the largest item in our national budget.”
“Congress has known about this deadline since they created it in late September. There’s no reason why this couldn’t have gone through the standard process, instead of being rushed to a vote right before Congressmen want to go home for the holidays. The urgency is 100% manufactured & designed to avoid serious public debate.”
Ramaswamy also criticized the size of the bill — 1,547 pages — and said that it could have easily been under 20 pages.
Calling it an early test for DOGE, Ramaswamy said the bill should fail.
“This bill should not pass,” Elon Musk bluntly wrote as he also posted a photo of the physical bill mocking its enormous size. “Make sure your elected representatives know how you feel about this gigantic spending bill! Musk wrote.