Rand Paul floats Musk for speaker
Sen. Rand Paul is floating the ultimate Washington outsider to be speaker: Elon Musk. “The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul (R-Ky.) wrote in a post on Musk’s X platform. “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).” The unconventional suggestion from one of the least conventional senators comes as Speaker Mike Johnson works to tamp down an outright conservative rebellion over his rejected short-term government funding patch. Paul wasn't alone in embracing the tech billionaire as the next possible leader of the House. "I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House," wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in a post on X. "The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way." Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said new leadership in the House is "almost inevitable" and suggested members go "outside the box" and "look to a different place," during an interview with conservative podcast host Benny Johnson on "The Benny Show." "Given that they all expressed such affection for Vivek [Ramaswamy] and for Elon, let them choose one of them, I don’t care which one, to be their speaker," Lee said. "That would revolutionize everything." President-elect Donald Trump and Musk on Wednesday called for Republicans to reject the Johnson-negotiated spending legislation — with several rank-and-file members publicly airing skepticism about Johnson continuing on as speaker in next Congress, even despite Trump’s backing. Republicans are expected to meet Thursday to discuss next steps on how to fund the government. While unusual to float the name of someone outside the House for the top job — and an extreme longshot — it has been done before. Eleven non-members have received votes in past speaker elections, according to the Congressional Research Service. Non-members who received a vote for speaker: Robert H. Michel (1997)Robert Walker (1997)Allen West (2013)Colin Powell (2013 and 2015)David Walker (2013)Rand Paul (2015)Jeff Sessions (2015)Tammy Duckworth (2019 and 2021)Joe Biden (2019)Stacey Abrams (2019)Lee Zeldin (2023) When House Republicans deposed Kevin McCarthy as speaker last year, Trump publicly considered a bid before endorsing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who went on to lose the race. Emmy Martin contributed to this report.
Sen. Rand Paul is floating the ultimate Washington outsider to be speaker: Elon Musk.
“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul (R-Ky.) wrote in a post on Musk’s X platform. “Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it . . . nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds).”
The unconventional suggestion from one of the least conventional senators comes as Speaker Mike Johnson works to tamp down an outright conservative rebellion over his rejected short-term government funding patch.
Paul wasn't alone in embracing the tech billionaire as the next possible leader of the House.
"I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House," wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in a post on X. "The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way."
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said new leadership in the House is "almost inevitable" and suggested members go "outside the box" and "look to a different place," during an interview with conservative podcast host Benny Johnson on "The Benny Show."
"Given that they all expressed such affection for Vivek [Ramaswamy] and for Elon, let them choose one of them, I don’t care which one, to be their speaker," Lee said. "That would revolutionize everything."
President-elect Donald Trump and Musk on Wednesday called for Republicans to reject the Johnson-negotiated spending legislation — with several rank-and-file members publicly airing skepticism about Johnson continuing on as speaker in next Congress, even despite Trump’s backing.
Republicans are expected to meet Thursday to discuss next steps on how to fund the government.
While unusual to float the name of someone outside the House for the top job — and an extreme longshot — it has been done before. Eleven non-members have received votes in past speaker elections, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Non-members who received a vote for speaker:
Robert H. Michel (1997)
Robert Walker (1997)
Allen West (2013)
Colin Powell (2013 and 2015)
David Walker (2013)
Rand Paul (2015)
Jeff Sessions (2015)
Tammy Duckworth (2019 and 2021)
Joe Biden (2019)
Stacey Abrams (2019)
Lee Zeldin (2023)
When House Republicans deposed Kevin McCarthy as speaker last year, Trump publicly considered a bid before endorsing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who went on to lose the race.
Emmy Martin contributed to this report.
