'I don't like it either': Mike Johnson to avoid government shut down in weeks before Trump inauguration by passing 'pork'-filled CR

House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he spoke to DOGE heads Elon Musk as well as Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday night about their concerns with the continuing resolution (CR) spending package. Musk on Wednesday morning, posted that the bill "should not pass." Johnson has moved to pass the package to avoid a government shut down. 

Musk made several posts on the bill on Wednesday morning about the 1,500+ page spending package. He shared a post from Ramaswamy slamming the bill, and wrote, "This bill should not pass." He added in a follow up post, "Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?"

Johnson responded to the concerns, saying that he spoke to Musk and Ramaswamy on Tuesday evening about the package, telling Fox News, “Elon, Vivek, and I were on a text chain together, and I was explaining to them the background of this. And Vivek and I talked last night, about almost midnight, and he said, ‘Look, I get it.’ He said, ‘We understand you’re in an impossible position. Everybody knows that.’”

"Remember, guys, we still have just a razor-thin margin of Republicans. So any bill has to have Democratic votes,” Johnson added. "They understand the situation. He said, ‘It’s not directed to you, Mr. Speaker, but we don’t like the spending.’ I said, ‘Guess what, fellas, I don’t either.'”

The CR was unveiled on Tuesday evening and is a combination of funding the government through March 14 as well as some add-ons for disaster relief and a health care deal, per The Hill.

Johnson added in his comments reacting to Musk’s comments, “We’ve got to get this done, because here’s the key: By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with America-first agenda that’s we’re going to run with gusto beginning Jan. 3, when we start the new Congress, when Republicans again are in control,” Johnson said. “And all of our fiscal conservative friends — I’m one of them — will be able to finally do the things that we’ve been wanting to do the last couple of years.”