Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer
Brief news
- Jim McGovern and Rosa DeLauro criticized Republican Congress members for yielding to Elon Musk, leading to the failure of a bipartisan financing package aimed at regulating U.S. investments in Taiwan.
- Congress passed a stopgap funding package to prevent a government shutdown, but McGovern noted missed opportunities to support AI and quantum computing in the U.S.
- DeLauro expressed concerns about Musk’s ties to the Chinese government, while Musk retaliated by calling her an “awful creature” on social media.
Detailed news
Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, both members of the House of Representatives, have stated that their Republican colleagues in Congress had given in to the demands of Elon Musk, resulting in the failure of a bipartisan government financing package that would have regulated investments made by the United States in Taiwan.
Over the course of the weekend, Congress was successful in passing a new stopgap funding package, which prevented a shutdown of the government.
McGovern expressed his belief that additional things could have been accomplished in a series of blogs on X. What he said was that the clause that was eliminated “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge artificial intelligence and quantum computing technology — as well as jobs — in the United States.” However, Elon dealt with an issue.
Musk is the first foreign automaker to operate a factory in China without a local joint venture, and Tesla is the only country in which this is possible. Tesla also constructed a battery plant this year, which is located directly across the street from its car production in Shanghai. Additionally, the company intends to develop and market technologies for autonomous vehicles in China.
According to what McGovern said about Musk, “His bottom line depends on whether or not he stays in China’s good graces.” He also wants to construct an artificial intelligence data center there, which could put the safety of the United States in jeopardy. In an effort to better his standing with the Chinese government, he has been going to extraordinary lengths.
It has been reported that SpaceX, which is Musk’s aerospace and defense firm, has withheld its Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan in response to a request made by the presidents of China and Russia. Taiwan is a democratic self-governing territory that Beijing believes to be part of its territory. Among the most contentious issues in the United States and China’s relationship is the position of Taiwan.
In a letter that was sent to Congress on Friday, DeLauro, who is the most senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, stated that Musk need “Chinese government approvals for his company’s projects in the country.”” In her writing, she expressed her concern on the fact that Musk “has ingratiated himself with Chinese Communist Party leadership.”
In the letter, DeLauro referred to Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, as “President.” This was a reference to the fact that Musk, the richest person in the world, began expressing his disapproval of the previous financing plan on Wednesday, before President-elect Donald Trump issued a comment of his own.
Trump had hoped that the Republican Party would reject the plan and instead propose a new law that would lift the debt ceiling. This would allow him to avoid the fight that would have occurred at the beginning of his second term in office. The two-year suspension of the United States debt limit that President Trump was seeking was not included in the interim spending agreement that President Joe Biden signed on Saturday.
After hearing DeLauro’s worries, Musk responded by referring to her as a “awful creature” in a post that he made on X.
Musk relaunched Twitter as X after he acquired it in 2022 and used it to assist in propelling Trump back into the White House. Along the way, Musk became a close adviser and a key supporter of the incoming president.
According to the disclosures made with the Federal Election Commission, Musk contributed a total of $277 million to the Trump campaign as well as other Republican causes during the congressional cycle of 2024. Following the election that took place in November, Musk has become an almost continuous presence by Trump’s side, particularly when he is meeting with leaders from other countries.
Musk was nominated by Trump to co-lead a group that has not yet been established but will be saddled with the responsibility of identifying methods to reduce staffing levels, regulations, and budgets.
Source : CNBC news
