Posted on: December 20, 2024, 04:26h.
Last updated on: December 20, 2024, 04:26h.
Elon Musk has never run for office but the world’s richest man has become a focal point of the Republican Party and a major player on President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team.
Musk and fellow businessman Vivek Ramaswamy are currently spearheading DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, a proposed presidential advisory commission focused on reducing government spending and waste. But a more important role within the Trump administration could be forthcoming, whether it be a Cabinet position or even possibly becoming the next speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
On Thursday, Rep. Rand Paul (R-KY) floated the idea of House GOP brass nominating Musk to the role of presiding officer of the lower congressional chamber.
The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul wrote on X. “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk. Think about it… nothing’s impossible.”
Paul added that making the billionaire the second in the line of presidential succession behind only Vice President JD Vance would additionally provide “joy” to many Republicans while watching the “collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds.”
Odds Shorten
On Kalshi, an online peer-to-peer wagering platform that offers political markets, Musk’s odds of succeeding House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) have shortened since Paul’s comments.
Bettors are trading shares of Musk obtaining the gavel at implied odds of 5%. That’s up 3% over the past 24 hours. Johnson remains the front-runner at implied odds of 57%, though his stock has dropped significantly — down 17% since yesterday — as Congress struggled to pass a spending bill to prevent a federal government shutdown.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is second at implied odds of 17% and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) is third at 12%. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) is the only other member of Congress who currently has better odds than Musk of becoming speaker at 4%.
Kalshi says more than $1 million on the House speaker outcome has been wagered.
Polymarket, a similar exchange but one that only deals in cryptocurrency, has almost $21 million bet on its House speaker outcome. There’s less enthusiasm there for Musk, as his shares are trading at just 2%. Johnson is the favorite at 61% followed by Jordan (13%), Scalise (12%), and Emmer (9%).
Though historically all House speakers have been elected members of Congress, the Constitution only requires that the speaker be chosen by the House of Representatives.
Co-President Musk?
Musk’s presence in Washington, D.C., and constant hovering around the incoming president has many Democrats on Capitol Hill upset. Liberal pundits and Democratic lawmakers have labeled Musk as Trump’s “shadow president” and “co-president.”
On X, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) shared an AI-generated image depicting Musk operating Trump as a puppet. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) wrote that an “unelected billionaire” has been “crowned co-president by the Republican Party.”
[Republicans] have given him so much influence over every decision they make,” Frost told The Washington Post. “Either they’re scared or they’ve bowed down and pledged allegiance to the richest man on Earth.”
In October, Musk said he was “looking for feedback” regarding DOGE and what should be cut from the federal government.
“I want to know what the people want and what we should do,” Musk said in Pittsburgh. “As opposed to me just deciding on my own.”