MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The U.S. government is on the verge of shutting down again. Last night, House Republicans overwhelmingly rejected a stopgap funding plan that had been pushed by President-elect Trump. That plan - which had been fast-tracked - was the backup plan. The first plan had bipartisan support in the House, but Trump came out against it. And before Trump did that, his apparently close adviser Elon Musk unleashed wave after wave of criticism of that plan. Republican strategist Tricia McLaughlin is with us now to parse out what all this means in her background. Given her background, we're going to focus on what's happening with the GOP leadership. She's the former communications director for Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign, and she tells us she's still working with him. Good morning.
TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: I have so many questions. Given what's happened over the last few days, you know, because of the timing of this, Musk, you know, mad tweeting even before the President-elect came out against this, you can see why a lot of people are asking the question of who's actually running the show? Is it Trump, or is it Musk? So how do you read this?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I still think, you know, it's President-elect Donald Trump's show, and he has the backing of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. But I think what Elon Musk and Vivek are communicating is, hey, this isn't going to be business as usual. We said it's - we have DOGE, and we expect that people stick to their word. They were - House Republicans and Senate Republicans were incredibly gung-ho about getting spending in line and cutting bureaucracy when both gentlemen were at Congress just a couple of weeks ago. And now we're seeing a very different tone. So they need to not just talk the talk but walk the walk. And that includes not giving...
MARTIN: DOGE being this advisory group that Mr. Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are co-chairing, which is supposed to advise the incoming administration on cutting government spending. OK, so I get that. I mean, by now, everybody knows that Trump has an unconventional style, to put it mildly. But, you know, for somebody else, having a subordinate - which Mr. Musk is - you know, getting over his skis like that would be a deal breaker. But is there a way in which this flexing, you know, works for the incoming president?
MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think it does. He can use Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as bulldogs to really get House Republicans in line. I think, you know, yesterday's lack of passing for this continued resolution is a little bit of a black eye. So we'll have to see where we go from here. And I don't think Mike Johnson's speakership is in peril. He has great relationships both with Donald Trump, with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
MARTIN: OK. But you can see where these are very rich businessmen who are these advisers, so, you know, kudos to them. But for shutting down the government at Christmastime when all these federal workers, military service members, sure if they resolve this, they'll get paid eventually. But they still have - especially the essential workers have to work at Christmastime. You know, both sides at this point, of course, they're going to start sort of blaming each other for this. But is this really a good look? Does this really help the Republicans who are positioning themselves as people who are really the ones who represent kind of the every man, as it were?
MCLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I think politically, Republicans still very much view this as Joe Biden's spending bill. So I think, of course, they'll toss it back and forth as the political football always does. But this is the reason that we're $36 trillion in debt today is because no one's willing to take the buck.
MARTIN: But it's a 50/50 government. I mean, forgive me, but you know, it's not that - I understand that Mr. Trump, and actually, most presidents, have a maximalist view of their mandate when they get reelected. But the reality of it is this is a 50/50 government. Very slim margins for Republicans in the House. Democrats still run the Senate at this point but are going to have, when the Republicans take over, don't have a large margin there either. So after a certain point, don't they own this?
MCLAUGHLIN: You know, I think that that's the reason that a lot of House Republicans, especially, you know, more fiscal hawks, are calling for a very short CR that would take us just about to January 20, and then they could have single subject votes on the spending measures inside that bill. So yeah, I mean, the buck has to stop somewhere, and I think it should stop with House Republicans. They said that they would get spending under control, and we need to see it starting today.
MARTIN: How long do you think this is going to go on? I'm asking you to speculate, but I'm - but I am to ask you.
MCLAUGHLIN: I'm reading the tea leaves. I think that there is a good chance this goes on for at least a couple of days.
MARTIN: A couple of days?
MCLAUGHLIN: Into next week.
MARTIN: Into next week. And if it goes on longer than that, who owns it?
MCLAUGHLIN: You know, I - both parties have to own this.
MARTIN: OK, that is Republican strategist Tricia McLaughlin. Thanks so much for joining us and sharing these insights with us.
MCLAUGHLIN: Take care. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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