On December 5, 2024, Musk walked on Capitol Hill when meeting with elected Senate Republican leader John Thune (R-SD) in Washington, the United States.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters
House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said their Republican colleagues in Congress gave in to Elon Musk’s demands and vetoed a bill to regulate U.S. investment in China bipartisan government funding bill.
Congress passed a separate temporary funding bill over the weekend, averting a government shutdown.
in a series of posts On the X, McGovern said more could have been done. The repealed provisions “will make it easier to keep cutting-edge artificial intelligence and quantum computing technology and jobs in the United States,” he wrote. “But Elon has a problem.”
TeslaThe automaker run by Musk is the only foreign automaker operating a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery factory near its Shanghai auto plant this year to develop and sell self-driving car technology in China.
“His bottom line depends on whether he can continue to win China’s favor,” McGovern wrote of Musk. “He also wants to build an artificial intelligence data center there – which could jeopardize U.S. security. He has been going out of his way to curry favor with Chinese leaders.”
Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor SpaceX Reportedly detained Providing Starlink satellite network services in Taiwan at the request of the leaders of China and Russia. Taiwan is a self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing as its territory. Taiwan’s status is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-China relations.
House Appropriations Committee Democratic Leader DeLauro wrote in the letter Musk told Congress on Friday that his company’s projects in China require “approval from the Chinese government.” What’s worrying, she wrote, is that Musk “curates to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.”
In the letter, DeLauro referred to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO as “President” Musk, an allusion to the world’s richest man who began complaining about previous financing bills on Wednesday before President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement.
Trump had hoped Republicans would veto the bill and issue a new bill raising the debt ceiling so he could avoid that fight at the start of his second term. The temporary financing bill signed by President Joe Biden on Saturday does not include the two-year pause on the U.S. debt ceiling sought by Trump.
Musk echoed DeLauro’s concerns, calling her ” “terrible creature” In X’s post.
After acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk renamed it X and used it to help Trump return to the White House, becoming a close adviser and key supporter of the incoming president along the way.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Musk donated $277 million to the Trump campaign and other Republican causes during the 2024 cycle. Musk has almost always sided with Trump since the November election, including on Meet with foreign leaders.
Trump tapped Musk to co-lead a group that has yet to be formed but will be tasked with finding ways to cut regulations, personnel and budgets.
watch: Musk’s influence on government
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