Transphobic billionaire Elon Musk has helped end a congressional continuing resolution (CR) that would continue funding the federal government through mid-March. The incident has compelled at least one Republican lawmaker to call for ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and replacing him with Musk.

The battle demonstrates Musk’s growing influence over the Republican Party after he donated millions and used the X social media platform to help reelect President-elect Donald Trump. In fact, social media commenters have now started saying that Musk, the richest man in the world, is the real president and that Trump merely serves him.

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Musk and failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — both of whom have been appointed to Trump to the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — both posted messages on X urging congressional Republicans not to support the measure.

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The measure continues current government funding levels and adds-on $100 billion in hurricane disaster relief funds, $10 billion in aid to farmers, reforms to the pharmacy pricing industry; an extension to the farm bill, and the first pay raise for members of Congress since 2009.

Musk called the CR full of “pork” (a term for politicians large spending meant to benefit politicians’ local voting districts), and Ramaswamy compared the bill’s “feel good” spending to “showering cocaine on an addict.”

Johnson told Fox News on Tuesday night that he recently spoke with Musk and Ramaswamy, who told him that they know he’s in an “impossible position” of having to either fund the government with Democratic help or cause a government shutdown while reducing spending to appease Musk, Ramaswamy, and other far-right Republicans.

“We got to get this thing done so we don’t have the shutdown. So, we get the short-term funding measure, and we get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending,” Johnson said. “That’s when the big changes start.”

Speaking to reporters, Johnson added, “This is not an omnibus [bill], OK? This is a small CR that we had to add things to that were out of our control. These are not man-made disasters. These are things that are — the federal government has an appropriate role to do… We have to be able to help those who are in these dire straits.”

However, numerous House Republicans are already saying they won’t support the CR. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) have all said that they won’t vote for it, according to The Hill.

The House GOP unrest over the CR also puts Johnson in possible danger of losing his House speakership when the House votes for Speaker on January 3. Johnson will need Democratic votes to pass the CR, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted by far-right Republicans last year for essentially doing the same thing.

In fact, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-WV) said he wouldn’t support Johnson to stay as speaker, and Rep. Greene and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) have both already called for Johnson to be replaced by Musk for House Speaker.

Greene wrote, “I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency. The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way.”