News Not Noise Letter: "President Musk" Causing Chaos Already
Musk's words on X threatened to shut down government. Plus: Mangione is charged with terrorism, good news about microplastics, and give the gift of News Not Noise this holiday.
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In today’s newsletter, the strange marriage between Elon Musk and Donald Trump is causing heartburn for Republicans on Capitol Hill. The latest victim: a spending bill meant to keep government open. Musk tanked an agreed upon plan with a flurry of posts on X; Trump followed suit. This prompted critics to label them “President Musk and VP Trump.” Fortunately, Congress appears poised to avoid a government shutdown (at 12pm tonight). The House just passed a stripped down measure to avoid a shutdown by relying heavily on Democratic votes. House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on X that he explained the bill to Elon Musk and got his approval for it. Both Trump and Musk expended political capital on this fight and hemorrhaged support among GOP’s. Neither got what they wanted. Still they’re trying to spin this as a win. We get into that below. Plus we also take a look at the government’s response to Luigi Mangione as compared to school shooters. And we include some News That Doesn’t Suck to leave you on a positive note.
Here are your headlines:
The Musk Shutdown Drama: Congress is set to narrowly avert a government shut down tonight, thanks to a late vote on a third (or fourth?) spending proposal. The measure will keep government funded through mid March and includes $110 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion farm aid. It does not include a debt limit extension which Trump wanted. The Senate must pass the same bill before midnight to avoid a government shutdown. Elon Musk, who pushed for a shutdown has changed his tune. He now says, via X, “The Speaker did a good job here given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces.” The package passed 366-34, with the support of 196 Democrats and 170 Republicans.
What Just Happened: Earlier this week Speaker Johnson was poised to pass a bipartisan bill both chambers were ready to approve. But Elon Musk attacked the bipartisan measure with an onslaught of over 100 posts on X. Then President-elect Trump piled on too; GOPs balked and Johnson pulled the bill. Musk and Trump pushed for a stripped down bill that would have suspended the debt limit for two years and cut funding to many programs. Johnson put the Musk-Trump bill to a vote, but it failed when a stunning 38 House Republicans vote against it. That’s a surprisingly large number of defectors, considering the fact that Musk threatened to fund primaries against anyone who opposes the Trump agenda.
Cruel Choices: Among the changes Trump and Musk wanted? They wanted many spending programs stripped from the original bill, including funding for rural broadband. Without that, there’s an opening for Musk’s Starlink to pick up more business. Also cut from the original bipartisan bill was funding for research and programs supporting kids with cancer. “How can we cut this out in the name of efficiency?” one advocate, whose own child died of cancer at just 10, told The Bulwark.
What’s Next: Trump wanted Congress to raise the debt limit now — to pave the way for him to pass huge tax cuts without worrying about paying for it. That debt limit extension is not in the bill that just passed, so Congress (and Trump) will have to tackle that in 2025.
Shutdown Math: The last three government shutdowns cost taxpayers almost $4 billion. Maybe someone should tell the DOGE-bros that before they detonate more spending deals.
Speaker… Musk? Some critics are now referring disparagingly to “President Musk.” A growing number of GOPs say they want to replace Mike Johnson, with some floating the idea of electing Elon Musk Speaker of the House. By law the speaker need not be an elected member or born in the USA. Today Musk tweeted his support for Germany’s neo-Nazi AfD party.
Also Noteworthy: The 38 GOP “no” votes on the earlier spending plan demonstrate there are GOPs ready to resist Trump and Musk.
Who’s Going to Tell Rogan: Some of you might remember that Joe Rogan, then-President Trump, and others promoted hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. Millions took it. Now, the scientific paper this support was based on has been retracted. Among the flaws in the research: The study tested the drug on just 26 people. Of that already tiny number, six were not included in the final data, because they didn’t complete the six-day study — two left the hospital, possibly because they felt better, but three got sicker, and one died!
Breaking News: Two people are dead, including one child, and at least 60 are hurt, over a dozen seriously, after a driver plowed into a crowd at a Christmas Market in Germany. A large black car sped over 1,300 feet through the scene, knocking people over. The suspect is under arrest. He’s reportedly a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006. His motive remains unknown, but authorities are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
Mangione’s Armed Perp Walk: Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been flown into Manhattan by helicopter. Dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit, he was escorted by an unusually large crowd of police, many heavily armed and armoured in the form of bulletproof vests. (A former member of the NYPD told the BBC that this is the level of security usually provided to “visiting diplomats and dignitaries.”) Embattled Mayor Eric Adams even joined the entourage. Mangione is being held in the same jail as Diddy and FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
Terror Charges: New York is using a 9/11 era law to charge Mangione with murder as an act of terrorism, which carries a potential life sentence. NY DA Alvin Bragg says the terror law is relevant because Magnione’s “intent” was to “sow terror.” Responding to the sense of terror racing through New York’s C-suites, Governor Kathy Hochul said she might set up a hotline so executive offices can quickly reach the state if there’s an imminent threat.
Horror in Madison: This week a 15-year-old female student opened fire with a pistol at her small Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, killing a teacher and fellow student and injuring six more before reportedly shooting herself. In an alleged manifesto she appears to be a troubled girl full of rage at the world, and her parents in particular. According to this manifesto, she was inspired by other mass shooters, including those who targeted racial minorities. School shooters are almost always men. Between 1966 and 2019, for example, just 2.3% of mass shooters were not men. Rumors that this shooter was transgender are false. On Wednesday, police issued a restraining order against a 20-year-old man they believe was in contact with the shooter, who allegedly shared his plans to attack a government building with her. The Madison police chief told reporters that his team was informed of the shooting by a second-grade student, who called 911. There have been 320-plus school shootings this year.
Value of Protection: So many young people have been telling me their lives simply are not valued by this government or corporate america. (When I ask why they feel this way, I get furious responses: “It’s not a feeling it’s a fact.”) So I decided to look at some specifics. I learned that
