Rand Paul floats Musk for speaker

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is floating the ultimate Washington outsider to be speaker: Elon Musk.

“The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress,” Paul 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 (R-La.) works to tamp down an outright conservative rebellion over his rejected short-term government funding patch.

President-elect Donald Trump and Musk on Thursday 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.