The 21st Show

President-elect Elon Musk?

Produced by Christine Hatfield
 
Flanked by aides, Johnson, Ramaswamy and Musk walk through the U.S. Capitol Complex. Musk is carrying his son on his shoulders.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, from left, walks with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who is carrying his son X Æ A-Xii, as they walk to a meeting on Capitol Hill in this file photo from Dec. 5, 2024. Jose Luis Magana/AP

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Elon Musk exercised the kind of power past tycoons could only dream of, single-handedly bullying elected members of Congress into dropping a deal to keep the federal government operating into the new year. Republicans and Democrats were left scrambling, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was left with an even more complicated fiscal puzzle and the whiff of an impending sell-by date on his time in leadership. IPM's Washington correspondent, Linda Kenyon, breaks it down.

Guest

Linda Kenyon
Washington correspondent • Illinois Public Media