Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Musk for speaker of the House? It’s not as crazy as it seems.

AI Elon Musk wielding a gavel
AI image created by Grok

On Dec. 19, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) floated the idea of Elon Musk being the speaker of the House after the billionaire tech businessman publicly opposed a bipartisan bill to avert a government shutdown.

As crazy as that might sound, some fellow Republicans support the idea, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.). She said that she would be open to supporting Musk for speaker, an idea proposed by other Republicans as Congress barrelled towards government shutdown Friday night.


Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also endorsed Musk for speaker, though he added that he would also be happy with Musk’s partner in the Department of Government Efficiency, Vivek Ramaswamy, taking up the role. He told talk show host Benny Johnson, “Let them choose one of them, I don't care which one, to be their Speaker,” Lee said. “That would revolutionize everything; it would break up the firm.”

And, of course, Democrats were outraged and started trolling President-elect Donald Trump by calling Musk the “real president.”

“The US Congress this week agreed to fund our government,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Wednesday. “Elon Musk, who became $200 BILLION richer since Trump was elected, objected. Are Republicans beholden to the American people? Or President Musk? This is oligarchy at work.”

Recently elected Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) wondered to reporters on Thursday: “If Elon Musk is kind of cosplaying co-president here, I don’t know why Trump doesn’t just hand him the Oval Office, or Speaker Johnson should maybe just hand Elon Musk the gavel if they just want that billionaire to run the country.”

According to CBS News, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) joined the fray, repeatedly invoking “President Musk” while speaking with reporters on Thursday.

“Welcome to the Elon Musk presidency,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) wrote on X.

The concept of Musk for Speaker of the House is surely intriguing, evoking two questions:

  • Is it legal?
  • Has it ever been tried before?

The answer is yes on both counts.

On the first question, the U.S. Constitution does not require the speaker to be a member of Congress, although historically, every Speaker has been a House member.

As to whether it has ever been tried before, the answer is actually yes. For example, former Secretary of State Colin Powell was nominated in 2013 and 2015, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Wis.) and Joe Biden were nominated in 2019.

It's certainly an interesting concept, but it hasn't happened yet.

We’d like to know what our readers think.

  • What do you think about the idea of a speaker who is not an elected member of the House?
  • Does it bother you that the richest man in the world with no elected experience can be speaker of the House?
  • Given how dysfunctional Congress is, might it be a good idea to shake it up from the outside?
  • If Musk became speaker, might that intimidate Trump? Could Trump handle becoming what some think could be a figurehead president, subservient to a younger, richer man? The balance is certainly complex, as is the relationship. Trump has already said he’s the man in charge. How will their dynamic evolve?

Email us your thoughts.

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Read More

Heaven as a Hashtag: Trump, Ukraine, and the Transactional Soul of Modern Leadership

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Heaven as a Hashtag: Trump, Ukraine, and the Transactional Soul of Modern Leadership

When Donald Trump called into Fox and Friends on Tuesday August 19th and mused that "I want to try and get to heaven, if possible," citing his role in the Ukraine peace process as a potential ticket upward, he offered far more than a personal aside.

It exposed the ethos of the man where redemption is transactional, compassion is conditional, and leadership is measured not by empathy but by negotiating oneself to heaven.

Keep ReadingShow less
Don’t Federalize and Militarize DC's Local Police

A busy city street with people walking and cars driving. The street is lined with buildings and has a crosswalk. Washington, DC

Getty Images, Erik Gonzalez Garcia

Don’t Federalize and Militarize DC's Local Police

When I walk my toddler home from daycare every evening, it is safe. That's here in Washington, D.C., where I have lived since I moved to work on government accountability 15 years ago.

For perhaps the next 30 days, or longer, District of Columbia residents will be policed by federalized civilian and military officers, per an executive order and presidential memorandum this morning. The executive order directs the police to be federalized to protect "national monuments" (which are in the safest parts of D.C. thanks to the existing park police) and other federal properties, but the memorandum directs the DC National Guard to address crime throughout the capital.

Keep ReadingShow less
Declaration of Independence
When, in 2026, the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we should take pride in our collective journey.
Douglas Sacha/Getty Images

The Far-Right's Biggest Lie

The tactic of "the big lie" was developed by Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. Tell a lie large enough, often enough, forcefully enough, and people will come to believe you and think that it is the truth.

Donald Trump and his MAGA followers have practiced the big lie often—think of "fake news" or "we are the party of the people"—and it has worked. It is a manipulative strategy to gain control of people's minds and thus of people themselves.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Voting Rights Act Turns 60 — but Its Promise Is Still Under Threat

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6 of that year, effectively prohibited racial discrimination in voting and required federal oversight to ensure its implementation. But the promise of the now seminal Voting Rights Act is at risk as Americans mark this milestone anniversary.

LOC; The 19th

The Voting Rights Act Turns 60 — but Its Promise Is Still Under Threat

Sixty years ago, a landmark piece of voting rights legislation was signed into law — a policy that has aimed to course-correct America’s wobbled experiment of representative democracy.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6 of that year, effectively prohibited racial discrimination in voting and required federal oversight to ensure its implementation.

Keep ReadingShow less