‘An Early Test’: Trump Administration’s Spending Bulldogs Sound Alarm Over GOP’s Federal Funding Bill

Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to create a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sounded the alarm Wednesday over the Republican-led House’s federal funding bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson released the full text Tuesday of the 1,547-page continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government until March 14, 2025. The incoming Trump administration’s cost-cutting bulldogs took to social media to rally against the bill, urging members of Congress to read its contents like they did before casting their votes. (RELATED: The Craziest Things Congress Snuck Into Its Pork-Packed Christmas Spending Spree)

The 1,547-page, $110+ Billion House “Continuing Resolution” meant to avert a government shutdown includes:

-A pay increase for members of Congress from $174,000 to $243,000 per year.
-A new football stadium in D.C.
-72 pages of “Pandemic Preparedness and Response” policy
-…

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) December 18, 2024

Ramaswamy slammed the legislation as debt-fueled spending comparable to “showering cocaine on an addict.”

“This bill should not pass,” Musk said.

“Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?” he asked on X at 4:17 a.m., sharing a photo of the bill printed out as a stack of papers atop a desk.

Ever seen a bigger piece of pork? pic.twitter.com/ZesFCNSNKp

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024

Musk made dozens of posts railing against the “terrible” federal funding bill, encouraging his 207.7 million followers to call their elected representatives. He also said Congress should not pass any legislation until Trump is in office.

Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel!

They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention. https://t.co/OlVJPaC4Wm

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024

Musk warned that the legislation would fund at least 12 biocontainment laboratories. The text would task these labs with research on “biological agents, including emergency infectious diseases.”

He highlighted that it would also fund the alleged censorship of conservatives through providing a one-year extension to the Global Engagement Center (GEC).

Through the GEC, the U.S. State Department helped fund the Global Disinformation Index, which reportedly crafted a blacklist of conservative media outlets advertisers then used to demonetize their websites.

“The more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that this spending bill is a crime,” Musk wrote. “It even includes funding for the worst illegal censorship operation in the entire government (GEC)!!”

The more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that this spending bill is a crime.

It even includes funding for the worst illegal censorship operation in the entire government (GEC)!! https://t.co/P8a3m0OpJR

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024

Ramaswamy wrote a lengthy explanation as to why lawmakers should “VOTE NO,” saying that Congress’ “urgency is 100% manufactured and designed to avoid serious debate.”

The DOGE co-leader said members of Congress knew about the Friday night deadline as “they created it in late September,” adding that the bill could have only been 20 pages long. (RELATED: Congress Sneaks Pay Raise For Itself Into Spending Bill As Americans Struggle To Make Ends Meet)

I wanted to read the full 1,500+ page bill & speak with key leaders before forming an opinion. Having done that, here’s my view: it’s full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways & pork barrel politics. If Congress wants to get serious about government efficiency, they…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 18, 2024

“We’re grateful for DOGE’s warm reception on Capitol Hill,” Ramaswamy wrote. “This is an early test. The bill should fail.”

Musk claimed the bill was “dead” at 3:58 p.m. Shortly before, Fox News host Lawrence Jones III said Trump told him he was “totally against” the legislation. JD Vance released a joint statement from him and Trump reiterating the president-elect’s opposition to the bill.

“If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” the statement read.

Through DOGE, Ramaswamy and Musk were tasked to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies,” according to Trump’s statement announcing the initiative.

With a deadline of July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the U.S., Trump’s DOGE duo must “drive large scale and structural reform” in the federal bureaucracy.