Elon Musk Is Acting Like an Oligarchic People’s Champion*

The U.S. risked a federal government shutdown after the world’s richest man almost single-handedly shot down a compromise budget. Many are now asking whether American democracy is taking on the characteristics of an oligarchy, and where the power lies, with Musk or Trump?

Government shutdowns are the stuff of U.S. political tradition. If Congress cannot agree on a budget, the federal government scales its operations back to the bare essentials. Civil servants must take unpaid leave, while museums and national parks remain closed. While a shutdown may not trigger any social breakdown — police officers, soldiers and air traffic controllers continue to work — it does bring most of the public sector to a standstill.

The U.S. has experienced 14 government shutdowns since 1981, most recently during Donald Trump’s first term. It looked likely that Saturday would herald another such event. The drama has its own rituals, rather like the Christmas holiday season. The crisis always blows over, even if the whole world collectively shakes its head in disbelief at the American superpower’s self-induced paralysis.

A Colossal Bill Running More Than 1,500 Pages

The remarkable thing this time, however, was how the crisis came about. Republican and Democratic lawmakers had hashed out a compromise deal in good time; it was a colossal bill running more than 1,500 pages. There was something in it for practically everyone, including $100 billion for victims of natural disasters, $10 billion in economic aid for farmers, and a pay raise for members of Congress. It’s unlikely all lawmakers were fully aware of all the bill’s major provisions.

Playing it safe, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson brought the incoming administration’s government efficiency czars in on the details of the bipartisan package. While Vivek Ramaswamy raised no objections, Elon Musk fully vented his opprobrium on his social media platform, X. “Kill the Bill,” he posted, in a clarion call echoing the title of the well-known Quentin Tarantino film. Musk warned GOP lawmakers supportive of the transitional funding bill to expect to “be voted out in 2 years!” And, what do you know, President-elect Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, simply followed suit shortly afterward by adding their voices to the chorus of disapproval.

The Paradoxical Call To Suspend the Debt Ceiling

Paradoxically, the future president also called for raising the debt limit. This was an astonishing proposition because Republicans are generally averse to the very notion. The objective seemed to be to make further headroom for government borrowing and to put it on the Biden administration’s account during the outgoing president’s last days in office.

Such a maneuver did not entirely align with Musk’s slash-and-burn cost-cutting agenda. No doubt we will see further such flare-ups between the incoming president and the world’s richest man. Musk has wheedled his way into the center of power in a creepy way. The tech entrepreneur, who is constantly at Trump’s side, who has had cozy chats with Vladimir Putin and Co. and shares his manic takes on world events, is now making actual policy, as we see in the Continuing Resolution to finance the government. In doing so, Musk has cast himself as a libertarian populist supremo with the zeal of a Jacobin. Musk relishes posting “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” “The voice of the People is the voice of the Gods.” Where will all this ultimately lead? Is the U.S. on course to become a populist oligarchy?

Trumpism Is a Monotheistic Religion

The Tesla tycoon does have a few entirely valid points. A radical overhaul of government spending could prove a powerful stimulus for the U.S. economy. In addition, Musk is quite right to call for some real time digital transparency, where contentious, opaque omnibus bills are concerned.

Yet, it is increasingly irritating to watch this all-knowing Croesus’ ever more uninhibited, intoxicated act, behaving as if he himself had been elected president. You cannot help wondering where the power really lies: with Musk or with Trump? Trump will surely not put up with it in the long term. There is simply no room for another demigod at his side. When all is said and done, Trumpism is a monotheistic religion.

*Editor’s Note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.