When the billionaire called Rep. Rosa DeLauro an "awful creature," it was a problem. When Elon Musk called for her expulsion, it made the problem worse.

The GOP House Speaker referenced speculation about his future and the outsized influence Musk appeared to wield this week.

Musk, the owner of car manufacturer Tesla and social media platform X, has been tapped by Trump to lead the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, after vocally supporting and financially backing his campaign for president.

In the end, both Musk and Trump failed to kill the bill. Musk did slightly better, getting some of his specific funding proposals, but he failed at the big-picture goal of decimating the budget. Trump,