The triumph of the gerontocracy

The triumph of the gerontocracy Rep. Gerry Connolly speaks to reporters outside of a House Oversight Committee hearing on May 16, 2023. — Johnson’s spending nightmare grows: GOP leaders are now considering a plan B to avert a shutdown deadline on Friday as conservatives, Elon Musk, Donald Trump and JD Vance have excoriated the original spending plan, which included several add-ons like $100 billion in disaster aid and a one-year farm bill extension. The tech scion and mega-ally of President-elect Donald Trump took to his social platform X today to slam a short-term funding bill Johnson backed, criticizing the 1,547-page continuing resolution for its numerous unrelated spending measures — including a raise for lawmakers — and calling it “criminal,” “unconscionable” and a “crime against the American people.” It started at 4:15 a.m. ET, when Musk posted on X “this bill should not pass.” And he hasn’t let up since, repeatedly urging his nearly 208 million followers to call their representatives to “Stop the steal of your tax dollars!” and threatening that “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” That’s a problem for Johnson — a Republican and Trump ally himself who could face a gavel fight in January — who must clear the bill by Friday night to avoid a government shutdown at the peak of the holiday season. LET’S WORK TOGETHER — Canada’s government says it wants to create a joint “strike force” at the Canada-U.S. border to target transnational organized crime — a shared initiative with the added goal of convincing President-elect Donald Trump to drop his tariff threat.