House Democrats say GOP caved to Elon Musk, protecting China interests

House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut say their Republican colleagues in Congress have caved to demands of Elon Musksinking a bipartisan government funding bill that would have regulated American investments in China.

Congress passed a separate stopgap funding bill over the weekend, avoiding a government shutdown.

In a series of posts on X, McGovern said more could be accomplished. The scrapped provision “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge artificial intelligence and quantum computing technology — as well as jobs — in America,” he wrote. “But Elon had a problem.”

Teslarun by Musk, it is the only foreign manufacturer operating a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery plant down the road from its Shanghai car factory this year, and aims to develop and sell self-driving vehicle technology in China.

“Their bottom line depends on staying in China’s good graces,” McGovern wrote of Musk. “He wants to build an AI data center there as well – which could endanger the security of the United States. He has bent over backwards to ingratiate himself with the Chinese leaders.”

SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor, has retained its Starlink satellite Internet service over Taiwan at the request of Chinese and Russian leaders. Taiwan is an autonomous democracy that Beijing claims as its territory. The status of Taiwan is one of the biggest flashpoints in US-China relations.

DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, he wrote in a letter to Congress on Friday that Musk needs “Chinese government approval for his company’s projects in the country.” Worryingly, Musk “has ingratiated himself with the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,” he wrote.

In the letter, DeLauro referred to the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as “President” Musk, alluding to the fact that the richest person in the world began to fight against the previous financing project on Wednesday, first of the president-elect. Donald Trump come out with a proper statement.

Trump had wanted the GOP to sink the bill, and issue a new one that would raise the debt ceiling so he could avoid that fight during the start of his second term. The stopgap funding bill, which President Joe Biden signed on Saturday, did not include the two-year suspension of the US debt limit that Trump was seeking.

Musk responded to DeLauro’s concerns by calling her one “terrible creature” in a place on X.

After acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk renamed it X and used it to help propel Trump into the White House, becoming a close adviser and major supporter of the incoming president along the way.

Musk contributed $277 million to the Trump campaign and other Republican causes during the 2024 cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Since the November election, Musk has become an almost constant presence at Trump’s side, even in meetings with foreign leaders.

Trump appointed Musk to co-lead a group that has not yet been formed, but will be charged with finding ways to cut regulations, personnel and budgets.

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