WASHINGTON — Elon Musk may have packed up and gone home weeks ago, but he’s still got a grip on Washington’s political class.
While Republicans cling to the coattails of the world’s wealthiest man — whether or not he’s tweet-shaming the GOP agenda on his social media platform, X — many Democrats are cheering the Tesla CEO’s latest foray into politics, with the soft launch of his “America Party.”
Musk’s initially cringe-inducing breakup with President Donald Trump is mostly in the rearview, and many veteran Democrats remain wary of the heavy-spending billionaire.
“A man that rich can do a lot of things,” Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told Raw Story at the Capitol recently. “He can also fake a lot of things, so I’m not sure how serious he is.”
Musk may no longer lead the Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE — but he’s still a Washington player. And with next year’s midterm elections looming, members of both parties are trying to simultaneously avoid and court him.
‘I wouldn’t say he’s turning on us’
Musk and Trump formally parted ways at the end of May, but just a few days later things got awkward as they took to their social media companies to digitally pummel each other.
After Musk lambasted Trump’s signature tax cut and tough-on-migrants spending bill, Trump complained of being “disappointed” in his former wingman.
Musk then dropped what he called the “really big bomb” — and accused the president of being “in the Epstein files.”
Republicans in Congress struggled to make sense of the fight between their leader that some call “Daddy,” and the sugar daddy who dropped upwards of $290 million on the 2024 election.
This summer, the Musk-aligned Building America’s Future PAC doled out more than $1 million promoting Trump’s agenda, including his signature “One Big Beautiful Bill” — which perplexed many political watchers, as at the same time Musk repeatedly used social media to rip a bill he labeled a “disgusting abomination.”
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,” Musk posted in early June. “You know it.”
Wrong or not, many rank-and-file Republicans who voted to pass Trump’s agenda want to appease Musk too.
“I agree with Musk,” Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) told Raw Story at the time.
“We need more people like Elon Musk, because being in the arena and being on the battlefield and fighting, that air cover is awesome.”
For many — if not most — in the GOP, Musk’s declaration that he’s starting a third party doesn’t mean he’s parting ways with the Republican Party they call home.
“I wouldn’t say he’s turning on us, he’s got a right to his opinion,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) told Raw Story. “Turning on us would be him going back to the dark side: the Democrats.”
On that Democratic side, things are awkward too.
Generally, Democrats view Musk’s promised third party as a net win, a move that will split the right-wing vote.
“Oh I definitely think it will be better for Dems,” Rep. John Larson (D-CT) told Raw Story.
“That obviously would help us. We’ll take it. I think we’re gonna do well no matter what. House Democrats did extraordinarily well [in 2024]. We actually picked up seats in a time that had gone heavily against the trends.”
“Republicans should worry more. Much more so,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) told Raw Story.
Democrats don’t have many good inroads to Musk, in part because DOGE focused on slashing and burning rather than building, Beyer said.
“I don’t know anybody that doesn’t want to make [government] more efficient. I’d love just the modernization. Makes perfect sense to me.
“Even things like deficit reduction, I’m on his side. We need to have much better deficit reduction, not the way [Republicans are] doing it, which is cut all the hospitals and services [like] Medicaid and then still drive [the deficit] up $4 to $5 trillion.”
With the Democratic Party promising to get “big money” out of politics, cheering on the world’s richest man is awkward — a point many veteran Democrats understand.
‘He’s got no base’
On the other side of the Capitol, most Democratic senators remain wary of Musk.
“Is it good for Democrats to just not have his money behind the GOP this time around, seemingly?” Raw Story asked the Democratic whip.
“I think there are going to be outrageous unlimited amounts of money regardless, and what impact he’ll have on either political party remains to be seen,” Durbin said.
“At the moment we only know the message that he is personally grieved. If there’s more, perhaps he can build a political base.”
Democrats are increasingly united in wariness of Musk and his meddling.
“I don’t know yet [about the third party],” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) told Raw Story. “Like, he certainly has the money. Right? But he also has to have people who decide to go with him.
“He’s got no base. Until I see that, it’s interesting. I enjoy a cat fight between two men. But until I see who joins [Musk], I can’t say that this is a real thing.”
What is real is voter unrest.
“There are a lot of disaffected voters,” said Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). “Absolutely.”
Polling shows many Democratic voters are disaffected with Fetterman, one of the more independent-minded senators in either party, who has supported Trump nominees and sided with Israel in its war in Gaza.
“At points I’m at odds with my party,” Fetterman conceded, “and I know I’ve had colleagues on the other side that were at odds with their side too. I don’t know if we’re ready for a third party in that sense, but without a doubt there are a lot of disaffected voters.”
“Last I saw, you were doing better with Republicans than Democrats?” Raw Story pressed.
“I have a great relationship with my parents,” Fetterman said, alluding to his blue-collar, conservative Pennsylvania roots — the very groups Democrats alienated and Musk courted last year.