Hillary Clinton says Republicans are taking orders from the ‘richest man in the world’ to shut down the government

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded Thursday about Elon Musk’s influence on the spending drama on Capitol Hill.

“If you’re just catching up: The Republican Party, which takes orders from the world’s richest man, is on track to shut down the government over the holidays, cut off paychecks for our troops and nutrition benefits for low-income families just in time for Christmas,” the presidential candidate wrote in 2016 on X.

Clinton, a former first lady and senator, served in Congress from 2001 to 2009.

Her comments came just as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., released a new version of a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government open beyond a Friday night deadline.

‘HELL NO’: HOUSE DEMS ERUP OVER GOP SPENDING DEAL

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded Thursday about Elon Musk’s influence on the spending drama on Capitol Hill. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Musk came out in strong opposition to the original spending deal Johnson negotiated with Democrats, threatening to back a primary challenge to any Republican who voted for it.

Without an acceptable deal to kick the government funding deadline to March and continue spending at 2024 levels, the government will go into partial shutdown at midnight on Saturday.

But House Democrats have doubts about the latest iteration of a spending plan. And with $36 trillion in debt and a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2024, some conservatives oppose a CR that would push the funding deadline to March and keep spending at 2024 levels.

“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious, it’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us into a government shutdown,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., holds his weekly news conference at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC, on May 23. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., indicated that Democratic leadership would whip their members to vote “no” on the deal.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., lamented that the last deal had been blown up by opposition from conservatives with input from the heads of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

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“Everybody agreed,” he said, “and then it got blown up by Elon Musk, who has apparently become the fourth branch of government. And that’s just an intolerable way to go on.

“Democrats are going to try to figure out how we can save the public good as the wreckage that was just pushed.”

Chants of “hell no” could be heard inside the room where Democrats met after the bill’s text was released.

Elon Musk threatened to support primary challenges to anyone who voted for the continuing resolution. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The latest continuing resolution would extend the current state funding level for three months and also suspend the debt limit for two years, something President-elect Trump has called for.

It comes after the original 1,500-page CR drew opposition from the right over policy and funding riders.

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House lawmakers could vote on the new bill as early as Thursday evening.

It is not immediately clear whether the new agreement will be adopted. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who led opposition to the original bill, also blasted the new deal.

“More debt. More government. Increasing the credit card to $4 trillion with ZERO restraint and cuts. HARD NO,” Roy wrote on X.